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COPTOIGHT DEPOSIT 



THE 

ORIGIN AND PERMANENT VALUE 

OP 

THE OLD TESTAMENT 



THE ORIGIN AND 

PERMANENT VALUE OF 

THE OLD TESTAMENT 



BY 

CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D. 

WOOLSEY PROFESSOR OF BIBLICAL LITERATURE IX 
YALE UNIVERSITY 



"|ft shall fcnoto tfje 3Tratij anH tije Crctfj sijall 
make 2° u frw" 



NEW YORK 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

1906 



Two Codim Received 

APK 26 1906 
s Copyright Entry 

CL/SS <X ' 

' COPY B. 



**&* 



Copyright, 1906 
By Charles Scribner's Sons 



Published April, 1906 



THE UNIVERSITY PRESS, CAMBRIDGE, U. 8. A. 



PREFACE 

During the past generation the Old Testament 
has commanded equally with the New the 
enthusiastic and devoted study of the great 
body of biblical scholars throughout the world. 
Two out of every three graduate students in 
our universities who specialize in the general 
field of biblical literature choose the Old as 
the special centre of their work. At the same 
time the tendency of the rank and file of the 
Christian church within the past decade has un- 
doubtedly been to neglect the older Testament. 
Preachers as a rule select less than a fourth of 
their texts from it; the prevailing courses of 
Bible study devote proportionately less time 
to it; and teachers and scholars in the great 
majority of cases turn to the Old Testament 
with much less enthusiasm than they do to the 
New. Why are these two great currents set- 
ting in opposite directions, and what are the 
causes of the present popular neglect of the 
Old Testament? If the Old Testament should 
be relegated to a second place in our working 



vi Preface 

canon of the Bible, let us frankly and carefully 
define our reasons. If, on the other hand, the 
prevailing apathy and neglect are due to igno- 
rance of the real character and value of the Old 
Testament, let us lose no time in setting our- 
selves right. 

The present volume has been suggested by 
repeated calls from ministerial bodies, popular 
assemblies, and groups of college students for 
addresses on the themes here treated. The aim 
has been to give in concise, popular form an- 
swers to some of the many questions thus raised, 
with the conviction that they are in the mind of 
eveiy thoughtful man and woman to-day, and 
especially on the lips of earnest pastors, mis- 
sionaries, and Sunday-school teachers. There 
are indications on every side of a deepening and 
far more intelligent interest in the needs and 
possibilities of religious education. Its vital 
importance to the life of the Church and the 
nation is being understood as never before. 
Earnest and fruitful efforts are being put forth 
to improve the methods and courses of instruc- 
tion. The first essential, however, is a true 
understanding and appreciation of that Book of 
Books, which will forever continue to be the 
chief manual "for teaching, for reproof, for 



Preface vii 

correction, for instruction in righteousness, that 
the man of God may be perfect, completely fitted 
for every good work." The supreme importance 
and practical value of the New Testament are 
recognized by all, but we usually forget when 
we quote the familiar words of Paul that he 
had in mind simply the Scriptures of the Old 
Testament. 

In divine Providence mighty forces have been 
quietly at work during the past century remov- 
ing false rabbinical traditions and misconceptions 
that had gathered about these ancient Scriptures, 
while from other sources has come new light to 
illumine their pages. The result is that in the 
Old Testament the Christian world is discern- 
ing a new heritage, the beauty and value of 
which is still only half suspected even by intel- 
ligent people. This fact is so significant and 
yet so little recognized that one feels impelled 
to go out and proclaim it on the housetops. The 
Old Testament can never be properly presented 
from the pulpit or in the class-room while the 
attitude of preacher and teacher is apathetic and 
the motive a sense of duty rather than an intel- 
ligent acquaintance with its real character and 
genuine admiration and enthusiasm for its vital 
truths. The irresistible fascination which has 



viii Preface 

drawn many of the most brilliant scholars into 
the Old Testament field is a proof that it has 
lost nothing of its power and attractiveness. Al- 
ready the circle of those who have rediscovered 
the Old Testament is rapidly broadening. Ob- 
servation and experience confirm the conviction 
that all that is lacking to make that devotion 
universal is a right attitude toward it and an 
intelligent familiarity with its real origin, con- 
tents, and teachings. The sooner this is realized 
the sooner some of the most difficult problems 
of the Church, of the Sunday-school, and of 
popular religious education will be solved. 

As the repository of a great and varied litera- 
ture, as a record of many of the most important 
events in human history, and as a concrete 
revelation of God's character and will through 
the life and experiences of a race and the hearts 
of inspired men, the Old Testament has a vital 
message marvellously adapted to the intellectual, 
moral, social, and spiritual needs of to-day and 
supremely fitted to appeal to the thought and 
imagination of the present age. 

This little volume is intended to be simply a 
very informal introduction to it. Since of the 
two Testaments the New is by far the more 
easily understood and the better known, it is 



Preface ix 

made the point of departure in the approach to 
the more complex field represented by the Old. 
Many unexpected analogies will aid in under- 
standing the intricate literary history of the 
older Scriptures. The point of view assumed 
throughout is that of the busy pastor, mission- 
ary, Sunday-school teacher, and scholar, who 
have little time for technical study, but who are 
not afraid of truth because it is new and who 
firmly believe that God is ever revealing himself 
more fully to men and that his truth shall make 
us free. It is hoped that this general survey 
will prove for them but an introduction to a far 
deeper and more profitable study. 

To the Reverend J. F. McFarland, D.D., of 
the Bible Study Union, to the Reverend S. A. 
Cooke, D.D., of the Methodist Book Concern, 
to Mr. John H. Scribner of the Presbyterian 
Board of Publication and Sunday-school Work, 
to the Reverend M. C. Hazard, D.D., of the Pil- 
grim Press, and to the Reverend F. K. Sanders, 
Ph.D., of the Congregational Sunday-school and 
Publishing Society, who have generously read 
the manuscript of this book, I am deeply in- 
debted, not only for their valuable suggestions, 
but also for their strong expressions of personal 
interest in the practical ends which it seeks to 



x Preface 

conserve. I am also under great obligation to 
the Reverend Morgan Miller, of Yale, for his 
untiring vigilance in revising the proof of a 
volume written within the all too brief limits 
of a Christmas vacation. 

C. F. K. 

Yale University, 

January, 1906. 



CONTENTS 

Page 
I. The Eclipse and Rediscovery of the 

Old Testament . . 1 

II. The Real Nature and Purpose of the 

Old Testament 19 

III. The Earliest Chapters in Divine 

Revelation 35 

IV. The Place of the Old Testament in 

Divine Revelation 49 

Y. The Influences that Produced the 

New Testament C3 

VI. The Growth of the Old Testament 

Prophetic Histories 85 

VII. The History of the Prophetic Ser- 
mons, Epistles, and Apocalypses . . Ill 
Vin. The Development of the Earlier Old 

Testament Laws 123 

IX. Influences that Gave Rise to the 

Priestly Laws and Histories . . . 143 

X. The Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs 161 

XI. The Writings of Israel's Philosophers 177 

XII. The History of the Psalter .... 189 

XIII. The Formation of the Old Testament 

Canon 203 



xii Contents 

Page 

XIV. The Interpretation of the Early Nar- 
ratives of the Old Testament . . 223 

XV. Practical Methods of Studying the 

Old Testament 245 

XVI. Religious Education — The Funda- 
mental Problem of To-day . . . 259 



THE ECLIPSE AND EEDISCOVERY 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



THE ECLIPSE AND REDISCOVERY OF 
THE OLD TESTAMENT 

The opening chapters of the Gospels record Jesus' study 
only three or four meagre facts regarding the Testament 
first thirty years of Jesus' life. The real his- 
tory of those significant years ran so far beneath 
the surface of external events that it completely 
escaped the historian. The history of the men- 
tal and spiritual fife of the Master is recorded in 
his mature character and teachings. The fugi- 
tive hints, however, vividly illustrate the su- 
preme fact that he ever grew stronger, becoming 
filled uith wisdom ; and the grace of God was 
upon him (Luke ii. 40). They reveal a soul not 
only in closest touch with God and with human 
life, but also in eager quest for the vital truth re- 
garding God and man recorded in the Scriptures 
of his race. It requires no imagination to pic- 
ture the young Jew of Nazareth eagerly study- 
ing in the synagogue, at the temple, and alone 
by himself the sacred writings found in our Old 
Testament, for this fact is clearly recorded on 
every page of the Gospels. 



4 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

EisfamiU- The events of Hebrew history, and its heroes 
all parts — Abraham, David, Elijah — were all familiar to 
°f lt him. The Old Testament was the background 

of a large portion of the Sermon on the Mount. 
From Deuteronomy vi. 4, 5, and Leviticus xix. 18 
he drew his marvellous epitome of all law and 
duty. In the wisdom literature, and especially 
in the book of Proverbs, he found many of those 
practical truths which he applied to life with 
new authority and power. From the same store- 
house of crystallized experience he derived cer- 
tain of those figures which he expanded into his 
inimitable parables ; he adopted also, and put to 
new use, the effective gnomic form of teaching of 
the wisdom school. As in the mouth of his herald, 
John the Baptist, the great moral and spiritual 
truths, first proclaimed by the ancient prophets, 
live again on the lips of Jesus. At every point 
in his teachings one recognizes the thought and 
language of the older Scriptures. At the mo- 
ments of his greatest temptation and distress, 
even in the last agony, the words of the ancient 
law and psalms were on his lips and their con- 
soling and inspiring messages in his mind. 
Attitude of What is so strikingly true of Jesus is equally 
true of the apostles and disciples who have given 
us the New Testament books : the atmosphere 
in which they lived, the thoughts which they 



The Eclipse and Rediscovery 5 

thought, and the language in which they spoke, 
were those of the Old Testament. Not bowing 
slavishly before it, as did their Jewish contem- 
poraries, but with true reverence, singling out 
that which was vital and eternal, they made it 
the basis of their own more personal and perfect 
message to humanity. But for them, and for 
the early Church, until at least the middle of 
the second Christian century, the only scrip- 
tures regarded as authoritative were those of 
the Old Testament. Even then, only gradually, 
and under the pressure of real needs, were dif- 
ferent groups of Christian writings added and 
ascribed an authority equal to that of the older 
Scriptures. 

Throughout the Middle Ages and in the eyes Attitude of 
of the Protestant reformers the two great divi- church, and 
sions of the Bible continued to command equal p^ilamsm 
respect and attention. From the Old Testa- 
ment and its reflection in the teachings of Paul, 
Puritanism and the theology of the past three 
centuries derived most of that which revealed 
their strength as well as their weakness. From 
the law, the prophets, and the book of Proverbs 
they drew their stern spirit of justice, their zeal 
for righteousness, and their uncompromising con- 
demnation of everything that seemed to them 
wrong. Their preachers nobly echoed the thun- 



6 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

ders of Sinai and the denunciations of an Elijah, 
an Amos, and an Hosea. They often failed, 
however, to recognize the divine love which 
prompted the stern words of the prophets, and 
to see that these denunciations and warnings 
were simply intended to arouse the conscience 
of the people and to make them worthy of the 
rich blessings that God was eager to bestow. 
Misinterpretation of the spirit of the later 
Old Testament reformers, who dramatically por- 
trayed Jehovah's hatred for the abominable 
heathen cults in the form of commands to 
slaughter the peoples practising them, frequently 
led the Puritan fathers to treat their foes in 
a manner neither biblical nor Christian. To 
this narrow interpretation of the letter rather 
than the spirit of the Old Testament, and the 
emphasis placed upon its more primitive and im- 
perfect teachings can be directly traced the worst 
faults of that courageous band who lived and 
died fighting for what they conceived to be 
truth and right. 
Reaction It is undoubtedly true that during the past 

^tbhof ^ ^ wo decades the Old Testament has in fact, if 
Puritanism not j n theory, been assigned to a secondary 
place in the life and thought of Christendom. 
This is not due to the fact that the Christ has 
been exalted to his rightful position of command- 



The Eclipse and Rediscovery 7 

ing authority and prestige. All that truly exalts 
him likewise exalts the record of the work of 
his forerunners which he came to bring to com- 
plete fulfilment and upon which he placed his 
eternal seal of approval. Rather, the present 
eclipse of the Old Testament appears to be 
due to three distinct causes. The first is con- 
nected with the reaction from Puritanism, and 
especially from its false interpretation of the 
Bible. Against intolerance and persecution the 
heart of man naturally rebelled. These rang 
true neither with life nor the teaching of Jesus. 
Refuge from the merciless and seemingly flaw- 
less logic of the earlier theologians was found 
in the simple, reassuring words of the Gospels. 
The result was that, with the exception of a very 
few books like the Psalter, the Old Testament, 
which was the arsenal of the old militant theol- 
ogy, has been unconsciously, if not deliberately, 
shunned by the present generation. 

Within the past decade this tendency has Doubts 
been greatly accelerated by the work of the aTwlrk of 
so-called " Higher Critics." Because it presents ^ c f^ 
more literary and historical problems, and be- 
cause it was thought, at first, to be farther away 
from the New Testament, the citadel of the 
Christian faith, the Old Testament has been 
the scene of their greatest activity. With what 



8 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

seemed to the onlooker to be a supreme disre- 
gard for the traditions long accepted as estab- 
lished by the Church, they have persistently 
applied to the ancient Scriptures the generally 
accepted canons and methods of modern his- 
torical and literary study. In their scientific 
zeal they have repeatedly overturned what were 
once regarded as fundamental dogmas. Unfor- 
tunately the first reports of their work sug- 
gested that it was only destructive. The very 
foundations of faith seemed to be shaking. Sinai 
appeared to be enveloped in a murky fog, instead 
of the effulgence of the divine glory ; Moses 
seemed to become a vague, unreal figure on the 
distant horizon of history; David's voice only 
faintly echoed through the Psalter; and the 
noblest messages of prophet, sage, and psalmist 
were anonymous. 
The mis- Little wonder that many who heard only from 

takes of the e .-, . , £ ,-, j« -, 

critics' afar the ominous reports ot the digging and 
delving, and vague rumors, — all the more ter- 
rifying because vague, — either leaped to the 
conclusion that the authority of the Old Testa- 
ment had been undermined or else rallied in a 
frantic effort to put a stop, by shouting or com- 
pulsion, to the seemingly sacrilegious work of 
destruction. <When the history of the Higher 
Criticism of the Old Testament is finally writ- 



The Eclipse and Rediscovery 9 

ten, it will be declared most unfortunate that 
the results first presented to the rank and file 
of the Christian Church were, as a rule, largely 
negative and in many cases relatively unimpor- 
tant. In their initial enthusiasm for scientific 
research scholars, alas ! sometimes lost the true 
perspective and failed to recognize relative val- 
ues. The date, for example, of Isaiah xl.-lv. is 
important for the right understanding and in- 
terpretation of these wonderful chapters, but its 
value is insignificant compared with the divine 
messages contained in these chapters and their 
direct application to life. Moreover, instead of 
presenting first the testimony and then patiently 
pointing out the reasonableness and vital signifi- 
cance of the newer conclusions, scholars some- 
times, under the influence of their convictions, 
made the fatal mistake of enunciating those con- 
clusions simply as dogmas. 

History demonstrates that established reli- Resulting 
gions and churches always hold tenaciously to in the 'Old 
old doctrines, and therefore regard new conclu- 
sions with suspicion. This tendency is clearly 
illustrated in the experience of Jesus ; for with 
all his divine tact and convincing authority, he 
was not able to win the leaders of Judaism to 
the acceptance of his revolutionizing teachings. 
Yet one cannot escape the conviction that if in 



10 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

this age of enlightenment and open-mindedness, 
the positive results of modern scholarship had 
been presented first, this latest chapter in God's 
revelation of himself to man would have been 
better understood and appreciated by the lead- 
ers of the Church, and its fruits appropriated 
by those whose interests are fixed on that which 
is of practical rather than theoretical import. 
At least many open-minded people might have 
been saved from the supreme error of writing, 
either consciously or unconsciously, Ichabod 
across the pages of their Old Testament. 
Difficulties The third reason why the Old Testament has 
landing it suffered temporary eclipse in so many minds is 
more fundamental; it is because of the diffi- 
culties in understanding it. The background 
of the New Testament is the Roman world and 
a brief century with which we Western readers 
are well acquainted ; but the background of the 
Old is the ancient East — the age and land of 
wonder, mystery, and intuition, far removed 
from the logical, rushing world in which we 
live. The Old Testament contains a vast and 
complex literature, filled with the thoughts and 
figures and cast in the quaint language of the 
Semitic past. Between us and that past there 
lie not merely long centuries, but the wide gulf 
that is fixed between the East and the West. 



The Eclipse and Rediscovery 11 

With three such distinct and powerful cur- The new 
rents — reaction, suspicion, and misunderstand- the monu- 
ing — bearing us from the Old Testament, it ments 
might be predicted that in a decade or two it 
would lie far behind our range of vision. Other 
forces however are, in divine providence, rap- 
idly bringing it back to us again, so that we are 
able to understand and appreciate it as never 
before since the beginning of the Christian era. 
The chasm between us and it is really being 
bridged rather than broadened. The long cen- 
turies that lie back of the Old Testament have 
suddenly been illuminated by great search-lights, 
so that to-day we are almost as well acquainted 
with them as with the beginning of the Christian 
era. From ancient monuments have arisen, as 
from the dead, an army of contemporary wit- 
nesses, sometimes confirming, sometimes correct- 
ing, but at all times marvellously supplementing 
the biblical data. Now the events and characters 
of Old Testament history no longer stand alone 
in mysterious isolation, but we can study in de- 
tail their setting and real significance. At every 
point the biblical narrative and thought are 
brought into touch with real life and history. 
The biographies and policies, for example, of 
Sennacherib and Cyrus, are almost as well 
known as those of Napoleon and Washington. 



12 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Modern 
aids in in- 
terpreting 
the Old 
Testament 



The prophets are not merely voices, but men 
with a living message for all times, because 
they primarily dealt with the conditions and 
needs of their own day. The vital relation 
and at the same time the infinite superiority 
of the religious teachings of the Old Testament 
to those of earlier ages and peoples are clearly 
revealed. 

Interpreted in the light of contemporary lit- 
erature and language, most of the obscurities 
of the Old Testament melt away. Modern re- 
search in the fields of Semitic philology and syn- 
tax and the discovery of older texts and versions 
have put into the hands of translators new and 
valuable tools for making clear to all the thoughts 
in the minds of the original writers of the Old 
Testament. Studies in comparative religion, 
geography, and modern Oriental life and cus- 
toms have illuminated and illustrated at every 
point the pages of the ancient writings. To 
utilize all these requires time and devotion, but 
he who is willing to study may know his Old 
Testament to-day as well as he does the New. 
Rejection of Fully commensurate with the great light that 
traditions nas keen sne( ^ upon it from without, is that 
which has come from a careful study of the 
testimony of the Old Testament itself. Until 
recent times the Church has been content to 



The Eclipse and Rediscovery 13 

accept blindly the traditions of the late Jewish 
rabbis regarding the origin, history, and inter- 
pretation of their scriptures. Handed down 
through the Church Fathers and interwoven 
with creeds and popular beliefs, they have been 
identified in many minds with the teaching of 
the Bible itself. Yet, when we analyze their 
origin and true character, we find that many 
of them have absolutely no support in the 
Scriptures, and in many cases are directly 
contradictory to the plain biblical teachings. 
Too often they are but the fanciful conjectures 
of the rabbis. Developed in an uncritical age, 
and based upon the unreliable methods of inter- 
pretation current among the Jews in the early 
Christian centuries, they are often sadly mis- 
leading. A close analogy is found in the tradi- 
tional identifications of most of the Palestinian 
sacred sites. To-day the Oriental guide shows 
the skull of Adam beneath the spot where tra- 
dition places the cross of Christ. If the travel- 
ler desires, he will point out the very stones 
which Jesus declared God could raise up to 
be children of Abraham. Every question which 
curiosity or genuine interest has raised is an- 
swered by the seemingly authoritative voice of 
tradition. Investigation, however, proves that 
almost all of these thousand identifications are 



14 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

probably incorrect. The discovery is a shock 

to the pious imagination; but to the healthy 

mind uncertainty is always better than error. 

Furthermore, uncertainty often proves the door 

which leads to established truth. 

Acceptance Even so the modern historical and critical 

mlnVoftie spirit has led men to turn from the generally 

Old Testa- accepted but exceedingly doubtful rabbinical 

ment regard- * ° J 

ing its origin traditions regarding, for example, the date and 

and history 

authorship of many of the Old Testament books, 
to the authoritative evidence found in those 
writings themselves. In this they are but fol- 
owing the example of the Great Teacher, who 
repeatedly appealed from the same rabbis and 
their misleading traditions to the same ancient 
Scriptures. The saddest fact is that many of 
his followers, even to-day, hesitate to follow 
his inspired leadership. Fortunately, as the 
varied strata and formations of the rocks tell 
the story of the earth's early history, so these 
early writings furnish the data for reconstruct- 
ing the illuminating history of their origin, 
growth, and transmission. Often the testimony 
of the facts differs as widely from the familiar 
inherited traditions as the conclusions of mod- 
ern science from the vague guesses of primitive 
man regarding the riddles of existence. Neither 
may represent absolute and final truth, and yet 



The Eclipse and Rediscovery 15 

no serious-minded man can question which is 
really the more authoritative. To-day one of 
the most vital issues before the Christian 
Church is whether it will follow the guidance 
of its Founder and accept the testimony of the 
Bible itself or cling blindly to the traditions of 
the rabbis and Church Fathers. 

The student of history at once recognizes in Historical 

t -, ri'ii iii significance 

the modern movement, of which the watchword f t he 
is, " Back to the testimony of the Bible," the ZveZnt 
direct sequel to the Protestant Reformation. 
The early reformers took the chains off the 
Bible and put it into the hands of men, with 
full permission to study and search. Vested 
interests and dogmatism soon began to dictate 
how it should be studied and interpreted, and 
thus it was again placed practically under lock 
and key. It is an interesting fact that a young 
Zulu chief, a pupil of Bishop Colenso of South 
Africa, first aroused the Anglo-Saxon world to 
the careful, fearless, and therefore truly reveren- 
tial study of its Old Testament. With this 
new impetus, the task of the Reformers was 
again taken up, and in the same open, earnest 
spirit. For two generations it has commanded 
the consecrated energies of the most thorough 
scholars of Christendom. Those of England, 
Scotland, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, 



16 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



The unveil- 
ing of the 
Old Testa- 
ment 



Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, America, and 
Canada have worked shoulder to shoulder, 
dividing the work, carefully collecting and 
classifying the minutest data, comparing re- 
sults, and, on the basis of all this work, form- 
ulating conclusions, some assured and some 
hypothetical, which best explain the facts. 

Often, to those who have not followed the 
detailed steps, these conclusions have seemed 
only destructive. Many of them are assuredly 
so; but the vital question which every honest 
man should ask is, Do they destroy the Bible, 
or simply the false traditions that have gathered 
about it? Fortunately, most of the leaders of 
the Church and most intelligent laymen have 
already discerned the only emphatic answer to 
this question. The Church is undoubtedly pass- 
ing quietly through a revolution in its con- 
ception and attitude toward the Bible, more 
fundamental and far-reaching than that repre- 
sented by its precursor the Protestant Reforma- 
tion ; but its real significance is daily becoming 
more apparent. Not a grain of truth which the 
Bible contains has been destroyed or permanently 
obscured. Instead, the debris of time-honored 
traditions and dogmas have been cleared away, 
and the true Scriptures at last stand forth again 
in their pristine splendor. 



The Eclipse and Rediscovery 17 

Freed from the misconceptions and false tra- The true 
ditions which have gathered about it, the true ment 
Old Testament rises from amidst the dust and 
din of the much digging and delving. To those 
who have known only the old it is a fresh reve- 
lation. Its literary beauty, its naturalness, its 
dignity, its majestic authority are a surprise 
to those who have not followed its unveiling. 
The old vagueness and mystery have in part 
disappeared, and instead it is found to contain 
a thousand vital, living messages for to-day. 
Its human as w r ell as its divine qualities com- 
mand our interest and attention. Through it 
all God speaks with a new clearness and au- 
thority. Thus, that which we thought was 
dead has risen, and lives again to inspire us 
to noble thought and deed and service. 



II 

THE REAL NATURE AND PURPOSE 
OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



n 

THE REAL NATURE AND PURPOSE OF 
THE OLD TESTAMENT 

Turning from the Jewish and mediaeval tra- A large 
ditions and theories which so easily beset us, fjl ra ry mP *' 
we ask, What is the real nature of the Old 
Testament as it is revealed in this new and 
clearer light? The first conclusion is that it 
is a library containing a large and complex 
literature, recording the varied experiences, 
political, social, ethical, and religious, of the 
Israelitish race. The fact that it is a library 
consisting of many different books is recog- 
nized by the common designation of the two 
testaments. As is well known, our English 
word Bible came originally from the Papyrus 
or Byblus reed, the pith of which was widely 
used in antiquity as the material from which 
books were made. It was natural, therefore, 
that in the Greek a little book should be desig- 
nated as a billion. About the middle of the 
second Christian century the Greek Christians 
(first in the so-called Second Epistle of Clement 



22 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

xiv. 2) began to call their sacred scriptures, Ta 
Biblia, the books. When this title was trans- 
ferred to the Latin it was, by reason of a 
natural and yet significant error, treated as a 
feminine singular, Biblia, which reappears in 
English as Bible. This most appropriate name 
emphasizes the fact that the books thus de- 
scribed are a unit and yet a collection of little 
books, selected from a larger literature and given 
their present position of preeminent authority. 
The record The term Testament suggests not the form 
vital, per- and authority of the books, but their theme. 
tions to the ^ 1S tne English translation, through the Latin 
rn™ ehUsh an( ^ Greek, of the Hebrew word, berith, usually 
rendered, covenant. It means a bond or basis 
of agreement. It implies a close and binding 
contract between two parties, and defines the 
terms to which each subscribes and the obliga- 
tions which they thus assume. The Old Cove- 
nant or Testament, therefore, is primarily the 
written record of the origin, terms, and history 
of the solemn agreement which existed between 
the Israelitish nation and Jehovah. The early 
narratives preserve the traditions of its origin; 
the lawgivers endeavored to define its terms 
and the obligations that rested upon the people ; 
the prophets interpreted them in the life of the 
nation, and the sages into the life of the indi- 



race 



Nature and Purpose of the Old Testament 23 

vidual; and the historical books recorded its 
practical working. The signficant fact is that 
back of the Old Testament records exists some- 
thing greater and deeper than pen can fully 
describe : it is a vital, living connection be- 
tween Jehovah and his people that makes 
possible the unique relation which finds ex- 
pression in the remarkable history of the race 
and in the experiences and souls of its spiritual 
leaders. Thus through life, and in the con- 
crete terms of life, God reveals himself to 
the life of humanity. 

In the light of this truth the Jewish and med- Written in 

, i ., . -, t history and 

laeval dogma that every word, and even every human 
letter of Scripture, was directly dictated hy%£j£ and 
God himself, seems sadly mechanical and bears 
the marks of the narrow schools of thought 
in which it took form. Hebrew was not, and 
probably will never be, the language of heaven ! 
Not on skins and papyrus rolls, but in the life 
of the Israeli tish race and on the minds and 
consciences of enlightened men, God wrote his 
revelation. History and the character and 
consciousness of the human race are its imper- 
ishable records. Fortunately he also aroused 
certain men of old, not by word and act only, 
but by the pen as well, to record the revelation 
that was being perfected in the life of their 



24 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

nation and in their own minds and hearts. 
He did not, however, dictate to them the form 
of their writings nor vouch for their verbal 
inerrancy. In time, out of their writings were 
gradually collected and combined the most sig- 
nificant passages and books, and to these was 
finally attributed the authority that they now 
rightfully enjoy. 
Secondary The ultimate basis of that authority, however, 
its authority is not their presence in the canon of the Old 
Testament. At the same time their presence 
there is deeply significant, for it represents the 
indorsement of many ages and of countless 
thousands who, from the most varied points of 
view and amid the most diverse experiences, 
have tested and found these ancient scriptures 
worthy of the exalted position that has gradu- 
ally been assigned to them. It is not the sup- 
port of the Church, although this also for the 
same reason is exceedingly significant. It is 
not the calm assumption of authority that ap- 
pears at every point throughout the Old Testa- 
ment, although this is richly suggestive; the 
sacred writings of other religions make even 
more pretentious claims. It is not that its com- 
mands and doctrines come from the mouths of 
great prophets and priests, like Moses, Samuel, 
Isaiah, and Jeremiah. This fact undoubtedly 



Nature and Purpose of the Old Testament 25 

had great weight with those who formed the 
final canon of the Old Testament, and the 
authority of a strong, noble personality is su- 
premely impressive ; but divine authority never 
emanates primarily from a man, however great 
be his sanctity. Furthermore, to establish the 
authority derived from a Moses or a Samuel it 
is necessary in every case to prove that the 
books attributed to them by late tradition actu- 
ally came from their pens. Even if this could 
in every case be done, some of the noblest pas- 
sages in the Old Testament remain avowedly 
anonymous ; for the tendency of the great 
majority of its authors was clearly to send 
forth their messages without any attempt to 
associate their own names with them. 

The ultimate authority of the Old Testa- Its ultimate 

t r ii it oas ^ s °f 

ment, therefore, is not dependent upon devoted authority 
canon-makers, nor the weighty testimony of the 
Church, nor upon its own claims, nor the repu- 
tation of the inspired men who have written it, 
nor the estimate of any age. Its seat of authority 
is more fundamental. It contains the word of 
God because it faithfully records and interprets 
the most important events in the early religious 
history of man, and simply and effectively pre- 
sents God's revelation of himself and of his 
will in the minds and hearts of the great pre- 



26 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Christian heralds of ethical and spiritual truth. 
Back of the Old Testament is a vast variety of 
vital experiences, national and individual, politi- 
cal and spiritual, social and ethical, pleasurable 
and painful. Back of all these deeply signifi- 
cant experiences is God himself, through them 
making known his character and laws and pur- 
pose to man. 
Its authority Students of the rediscovered Old Testament 

ethical and . . . . . . . J » , - .. 

religious, also recognize, m the light ot a broader and more 

not scientific careful gtudy? the f act? so f ten an d S0 fatally 

overlooked in the past, that its authority lies 
not in the field of natural science, nor even of 
history in the limited sense. Time and patience 
were destined to increase man's knowledge in 
these great departments and also to develop 
his mind in attaining it. The teaching of the 
Old Testament is authoritative only in the far 
more important realm of ethics and religion. 
Paul truly voiced its supreme claim when he 
said that it was profitable for teaching, for re- 
proof, for correction, for instruction in right- 
eousness, that the man of God may be perfect, 
completely fitted for every good work (II Tim. iii. 
16, 17). The assertion by the Church in the 
past of claims nowhere made or implied by 
the Old Testament itself is unfortunately still 
a fertile source of perplexity and dissension to 



Nature and Purpose of the Old Testament 27 

many faithful souls. Their salvation is to be 
found in a clear and intelligent appreciation of 
the real nature and claim of these ancient 
writings. 

One dominant aim determines the form of Its dominant 
each book and the selection of individual pas- feachlpirit- 
sages and binds together the whole : it is effec- ual truth 
tively to set forth spiritual truth and to mould 
in accordance with God's will the characters 
and beliefs of men. It was the supreme bond 
that bound together prophets, priests, sages, and 
psalmists, although the means by which they 
accomplished their common purpose differed 
widely. Many a current tradition, and the crude 
conceptions of the ancients regarding the natu- 
ral world, are recorded in the Old Testament; . 
but they are not there merely to perpetuate 
history nor to increase the total of scientific 
knowledge, but rather because they concretely 
illustrate and impress some vital ethical and 
spiritual truth. Such singleness of religious 
purpose is paralleled nowhere else except in the 
work and teachings of Jesus and his apostles. 

The ever-present evidence of the divine au- Its present 
thority back of the spiritual teachings of the proof of its 
Old Testament as a whole is that they ring true Authority 
to life and meet its needs. By their fruits we 
know them. It is the demonstration of the 



28 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

laboratory. We know that they are inspired 
because they inspire. The principles under- 
lying the social sermons of Amos are as appli- 
cable to present conditions as when first uttered. 
The sooner they are practically applied the 
sooner our capitalistic civilization can raise its 
head now bowed in shame. The faith that 
breathes through the Psalms is the faith that 
upholds men to-day in the midst of temptation 
and trial. The standards of justice, tempered 
by love, which are maintained in the Old Testa- 
ment laws make good citizens both of earth and 
heaven. As long as men continue to test the 
teachings of the Old Testament scriptures in 
the laboratory of experience and to know them 
by their fruits, nothing can permanently endan- 
ger their position in the Christian Church or in 
the life of humanity. Neglect and indifference, 
not Higher Criticism, alone permanently threaten 
the authority of the Old Testament as well as 
that of the New. 
Significance Recognizing the real nature and purpose of 
timsand these ancient records, the true student neither 
denies nor is disturbed by the marks of their 
human authorship. As in the case of the Gos- 
pels, the variations between the parallel narra- 
tives are all evidence of their genuineness and 
of the sincerity of their purpose. They demon- 



inconsisten 
cits 



Nature and Purpose of the Old Testament 29 

strate that God's revelation is adapted to the 
needs of life and the comprehension of man, 
because it was through life and expressed in 
the terms of life. Their individual peculiari- 
ties and minor errors often introduce us more 
intimately to the biblical writers and help us 
to understand more clearly and s} 7 mpathetically 
their visions of truth and of God. Above all, 
they teach us to look ever through and beyond all 
these written records to the greater revelation, 
which they reflect, and to the infinite Source of 
all knowledge and truth. 

The inconsistencies and imperfect teachings The record 
which are revealed by a critical study of the delation a 
Old Testament are also but a few of the many 
indices that it is the record of a gradually 
unfolding revelation. Late Jewish tradition, 
which is traceable even in the Old Testament 
itself, was inclined to assign the origin of every- 
thing which it held dear to the very beginnings 
of Hebrew history, and in so doing it has 
done much to obscure its true genesis. For- 
tunately, however, the history of God's gradual 
training of the race was writ too plainly in the 
earlier Old Testament scriptures to be com- 
pletely obscured by later traditions. The recog- 
nition that God's all-wise method of revealing 
spiritual as well as scientific truth was progres- 



30 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

sive, adapted to the unfolding consciousness of 
each succeeding age, at once sweeps away many 
of the greatest difficulties that have hitherto 
obscured the true Old Testament. Jesus with 
his divine intuition appreciated this principle of 
growth. Unhesitatingly he abrogated certain 
time-honored Old Testament laws with the 
words, Ye have heard that it was said . . . but 
I say to you. His own interpretation of his re- 
lation to the sacred writings of his race was that 
he came to bring them to complete fulfilment. 
Rearranged in their approximately chronological 
order, the Old Testament books become the 
harmonious and many-sided record of ten cen- 
turies of strenuous human endeavor to know 
and to do the will of God and of his full and 
gracious response to that effort. The beatitude 
of those who hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness was as true in the days of Moses as it was 
when Jesus proclaimed it. 
Its different Finally, the right and normal attitude toward 
very differ- tne O^ Testament leads to the wholesome con- 
ent values elusion that its different books are of very dif- 
ferent values. The great critic of Nazareth again 
set the example. As we have just seen, certain 
of the Old Testament laws he distinctly abro- 
gated ; others he quietly ignored ; others, as, for 
example, the law of love (Deut. vi. 5, and Lev. 



Nature and Purpose of the Old Testament 31 

xix. 19) lie singled out and gave its rightful 
place of central authority. A careful study of 
the Gospels, in the light of the Old Testament, 
demonstrates that a very important element in 
his work, as the Saviour of men, was in thus 
separating the dross in the older teachings from 
the gold, and then in giving to the vital truth a 
clearer, more personal, and yet more universal 
application. For the intelligent student and 
teacher of to-day the Old Testament still re- 
mains a great mine of historical, ethical, and 
religious truth. Some parts, like Genesis, Deu- 
teronomy, Hosea, Jeremiah, Isaiah xl.-lv., and 
the Psalter, are richly productive. Others, like 
Numbers, Chronicles, and Esther, are compara- 
tively barren. 

Since the Old Testament is the record of a Application 
progressively unfolding revelation, it is obvious 0J 
that all parts do not possess an equal authority. 
To place the example of the patriarchs or of 
David, who lived when ethical standards and 
religious beliefs were only partially developed, 
on an equality with the exalted ideals of the 
later prophets, is to misinterpret those ancient 
Scriptures and to reject the leadership of the 
Great Teacher. At the same time, studied from 
the newer point of view, the examples of those 
early heroes are found to illustrate vital prin- 



32 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

ciples in human life and to inspire and warn 
the child of to-day as effectively as they did far 
back in the childhood of the race. 
The Old I n these later days God has taken the Bible 

nofafetth from the throne of infallibility on which Pro- 
buta spiri- testantism sought to place it. By a gradual 
book and yet benign process, which we were never- 

theless at first inclined bitterly to resent, he has 
opened our eyes to its true character and pur- 
pose. Again, he has pronounced his Thou shalt 
not to the natural and yet selfish human desire 
to transfer moral and intellectual responsibility 
from the individual conscience to some external 
authority. Again, he has told us that only in 
the sanctuary of the human soul is the Infallible 
One to be found. Yet in order that we each 
may find him there, the cumulative religious 
experience of the countless thousands who have 
already found him is of inestimable value. The 
Old Testament contains not merely the word of 
God, but, together with its complement the New, 
is the great guide-book in finding and knowing 
him. It blazes the way which the pilgrim of 
to-day, as in the past, must follow from his 
cradle to the throne of God. At each point 
it is richly illustrated by the actual religious 
experiences of real men and women. Their 
mistakes and their victories are equally instruc- 



Nature and Purpose of the Old Testament 33 

tive. From many vantage-points reached by- 
prophets and priests and psalmists, we are able 
to catch new and glorious visions of God's char- 
acter and purpose for mankind. Through its 
pages — sometimes dimly, sometimes brightly, 
but growing ever clearer — shines the divine 
light of God's truth and revelation, culminating 
in the Christ, the perfected revelation and the 
supreme demonstration that man, though beset 
by temptation, baffled by obstacles, deserted by 
friends, and maligned by foes, can nevertheless, 
by the invincible sword of love and self-sacrifice, 
conquer the world and become one with God, 
as did the peerless Knight of Nazareth. 



Ill 

THE EARLIEST CHAPTERS IN 
DIVINE REVELATION 



m 



THE EARLIEST CHAPTERS IN DIVINE 
REVELATION 

Since the days of the Greek philosophers the The nature 
subject of inspiration and revelation has been a fion^™' 
fertile theme for discussion and dispute among 
scholars and theologians. Many different theo- 
ries have been advanced, and ultimately aban- 
doned as untenable. In its simplest meaning 
and use, inspiration describes the personal 
influence of one individual upon the mind and 
spirit of another. Thus we often say, "That 
man inspired me." What we are or do under 
the influence of that intellectual or spiritual 
impulse is the effect and evidence of the inspira- 
tion. Similarly, divine inspiration is the influ- 
ence of God's spirit or personality upon the 
mind and spirit of man. It may find expression 
in an exalted emotional state, in an heightened 
clarity of mental perception, in noble deeds, in 
the development of character, indeed in a great 
variety of ways ; but its seat is always the mind 
of man and its ultimate cause the Deity himself. 



38 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

In the Old The early Old Testament expression most 
estament common \y use £ to describe inspiration was that 
the Spirit of God rushed upon the man, as it did 
upon Saul, causing him to burst forth into 
religious ecstasy or frenzy (I Sam. x. 6, 10), and 
upon Samson, giving him great bodily strength 
or prowess in war (Judg. xiv. 6, 19, xv. 14). 
Skill in interpreting dreams and in ruling was 
also regarded as evidence that the Spirit of God 
was in a man like Joseph (Gen. xli. 38); but 
above all the prophetic gift was looked upon as 
the supreme evidence of the presence of the Spirit 
of Jehovah (Hos. ix. 7 ; Micah ii. 7, iii. 8). The 
word spirit as thus used in the Old Testament is 
exceedingly suggestive. It means primarily the 
breath that comes from the nostrils. Though 
invisible to the eye, the breath was in the 
thought of primitive man the symbol of the 
active life of the individual. In the full vigor 
of bodily strength or in violent exercise it came 
quick and strong ; in times of weakness it was 
faint; when it disappeared, death ensued; the 
living personality was gone, and only the clay 
remained. The same Hebrew word, rtiach, de- 
scribed the wind — unseen, intangible, and yet 
one of the most real and irresistible forces 
in all the universe. Thus it was a supremely 
appropriate term to describe the activity of 



The Earliest Chapters in Divine Revelation 39 

God, as it produced visible effects in the minds 
and lives of men. In the later Old Testament 
literature its use was extended, so that to the 
Spirit of God was ascribed activity in the natu- 
ral world and in human history. 

Of the two terms, revelation is broader than Nature of 
inspiration. Sometimes it is used collectively, re 
to designate the truth revealed, but it more 
properly describes the means or process whereby 
it is made apparent to the human mind. It 
implies that truth is always existent, but only 
gradually recognized. Inspiration is one of the 
chief means whereby the human vision is clari- 
fied so as to perceive it. Natural phenomena, 
environment, and above all experience, are also 
mighty agents in making the divine character 
and truth clear to the mind of man. The 
author of the Epistle to the Hebrews declares, 
with true insight, that God spoke in divers man- 
ners. All the universe, all history, and all life 
reveal him and his ultimate truths, for each is 
effective in opening the mental and spiritual eye 
of man to see the realm long awaiting him as 
conqueror. 

For countless ages electricity has inscribed its Man's rdle 
magic tracery on the storm-cloud and performed l p r0C ess of 
its all-important functions in organic life, \yxxt reveiatl0n 
not until men's eyes were opened by experience 



40 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

and trained observation to recognize its laws, 
was it practically applied to the needs of civil- 
ization. Similarly, unchanging moral and spirit- 
ual laws have existed through all time, but they 
have not become operative in human life until 
the eye of some seer is opened by a great expe- 
rience, or under the direct influence of the Spirit 
of God he is led to see and proclaim them. 
Thus God is in all and reveals himself through 
all nature and life, but it is only through the 
mind and on the lips of his highest creature, 
man, that truth is fully appreciated, formulated, 
and applied. 
The revela- In the broader sense all revelation is divine, 

tion recorded £ ., ir^j j i_- i j i. «j. ■ 

in the Bible * or «* reveals God and his laws ; and yet it is 
obvious that there is a real difference between 
the revelation recorded in a scientific book and 
that of the Bible. It is a difference both in 
subject-matter and in the ends to which the 
truth thus made manifest shall be applied. The 
one relates to the objective world, the world of 
things ; the other relates to human beliefs, emo- 
tions, and acts. 
Its breadth Moreover, it is evident that the spiritual reve- 
ualness lation which is in part recorded in the Bible 
was not limited to the Israelitish race or to the 
twelve centuries represented by the Old and 
New Testaments. The biblical writers them- 



The Earliest Chapters in Divine Revelation 41 

selves assume this fact. According to the early 
Judean prophetic narratives, Enoch, who lived 
ages before Abraham and Moses, was a worship- 
per of Jehovah (Gen. iv. 26). Cain and Abel are 
both represented in the familiar story of Gene- 
sis iv., as bringing their offerings to Jehovah. 
One of the chief teachings of the earliest stories 
in the Old Testament is that men from the first 
knew and worshipped God and were held 
responsible for their acts according to their 
moral enlightenment. History, science, and the 
Bible unite in testifying that the revelation of 
spiritual truth to mankind was something grad- 
ual, progressive, and cumulative ; also that it is 
dependent upon the ability of men to receive it. 
This capacity of the individual to receive is, 
after all, the determining factor in the process of 
divine revelation ; for God's truth and his desire 
to impart it are always the same. Hence, when- 
ever conditions favor, or national or private 
experiences clarify the vision of a race or group 
of men, a revelation is assured. 

In the light of ancient history and the result Antiquity of 

« , ,. .. . .I, human civil- 

oi recent excavations it is possible, now as never i za tion and 
before, to study the varied influences and forces reh 9 l0n 
employed by God in the past to open the spir- 
itual eyes of mankind to see him and his truth. 
The geological evidence suggests that man, as 



42 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

man, has lived on this earth fifty, perhaps one 
hundred thousand years. Anthropology, going 
further back than history or primitive tradition, 
traces the slow and painful stages by which 
early man learned his first lessons in civiliza- 
tion and religion. From the beginning, man's 
instincts as a religious being have asserted 
themselves, crude though their expression was. 
The oldest mounds of Babylonia and Egypt 
contain ruins of ancient temples, altars, and 
abundant evidence of the religious zeal of the 
peoples who once inhabited these lands. The 
earliest examples of human literature thus far 
discovered are largely religious in theme and 
spirit. 
Primitive All these testify that early man believed in 

unfolding of . , , . ., „ .. . 

the innate a power or powers outside himself, and that 
Ynstinct n * s cn ^ e ^ passion was to know and do the will 
of his god or gods. Jesus himself bore witness 
in the opening words of the prayer which he 
taught his disciples, that this is the essence of 
religion. It was natural and inevitable that 
primitive man, with his naive view of the uni- 
verse, should believe not in one but in many 
forces or spirits, and that he should first enthrone 
the physical above the ethical and spiritual. It 
is the instinctive tendency of the child to-day. 
The later identification of the divine powers 



The Earliest Chapters in Divine Revelation 43 

with the sun, that gave light and fertility to 
the soil, or with the moon, that guided the 
caravans by night over the arid deserts, or with 
the other heavenly bodies, that moved in majes- 
tic array across the midnight sky, was likewise 
a natural step in the evolution of primitive 
belief. 

Civilization and religion in antiquity devel- Reasons 
oped, as a rule, side by side. The two great Znia devel- 
rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, command-^V""^-. 
ing the trade of the north and the south ; prox- zation 
imity to the desert with its caravans of traders 
going back and forth from the Euphrates to the 
Nile; the rich alluvial soil, which supported a 
dense population when properly drained and cul- 
tivated; and the necessity of developing in a 
higher degree the arts of defence in order to main- 
tain the much contested territory, — these were 
a few of the many conditions that made ancient 
Babylonia one of the two earliest if not the old- 
est centre of human civilization. The commer- 
cial habits and the abundance of the plastic clay, 
which could easily be moulded into tablets for 
the use of the scribe, also fostered the early de- 
velopment of the literary art. The durability 
of the clay tablets and the enveloping and pro- 
tecting qualities of the ruined mounds of ancient 
Babylonia have preserved in a marvellous way 



44 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

its early literature. The result is that we can 
now study, on the basis of contemporary docu- 
ments, this early and yet advanced chapter in 
that divine revelation, the later culmination of 
winch is recorded in the Bible. 
Progress It begins as far back of Moses as he is 

period of removed from us in point of time. Its political 
city states b ac kg roun( i at first is the little city states of 
Babylonia, each with its independent organi- 
zation and its local schools of artists, whose 
products in many respects surpass anything 
that comes from the hands of later Semitic 
craftsmen. Each city had its temple, at which 
the patron god of the local tribe and district 
was worshipped. In some places it was the 
moon god Sin, as at Haran and Ur beside the 
desert ; elsewhere, as at Nippur, Bel, or at Eridu 
near the Persian Gulf, Ea, the god of the great 
deep, was revered. In the name of the local 
deity offerings were brought, hymns were sung, 
and traditions were treasured, which extolled 
his might. The life of these little city states 
centred about the temple and its cult. To 
make it more glorious the artisans vied with 
each other, and the kings made campaigns that 
they might dedicate the spoils to the deity. 

In time, perhaps as early as 4000 b. c, 
certain more energetic and ambitious kings 



The Earliest Chapters in Divine Revelation 45 

succeeded in conquering neighboring cities ; The growth 
they even broadened their boundaries until they empires 
ruled over great empires extending to the Medi- 
terranean on the west and the mountains of 
Elam on the east. In the name of the local 
god, each went forth to fight, and to him was 
attributed the glory of the victory. Naturally, 
when the territory of a city state grew into an 
empire, the god of that city was proclaimed and 
acknowledged as supreme throughout all the 
conquered territory. At the same time the 
local deities of the conquered cities continued 
to be worshipped at their ancient sanctuaries, 
and many a conquering king won the loyalty 
of his subjects by making a rich offering to the 
god and at the temple of a vanquished foe. 

The logical and inevitable result of politi- Its effect in 
cal union was the development of a pantheon, the pantheon 
modelled after the imperial court, with the god ^^ pular 
of the victorious city at its head and the leading 
deities of the other cities in subordinate posi- 
tions. When, during the latter part of the 
third millennium before Christ, Babylon's su- 
premacy was permanently established under the 
rule of Hammurabi, Marduk, the god of that city, 
was thus placed at the head of the Babylonian 
pantheon. The theologians of the day also 
recast and combined the ancient legends, as, for 



46 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

example, those of the creation, so as to explain 
why he, one of the later gods, was acknowl- 
edged by all as supreme. A relationship was 
also traced between the leading gods, and their 
respective functions were clearly defined. Cor- 
responding to each male deity was a female 
deity: thus, the consort of Marduk was Ishtar, 
while that of Bel was Belit. Furthermore, the 
ancient myths appear to have been coordinated, 
so that from this time on Babylonian theology 
presents a certain unity and symmetry, although 
one is constantly reminded of the very different 
elements out of which it had been built up. 
Development Parallel to the evolution of Babylonian 
Standards religion was that unfolding of ethical ideals 
and laws w hich finds its noblest record and expression 
in the remarkable code of Hammurabi (about 
2250 B. c.). In its high sense of justice ; in its 
regard for the rights of property and of individ- 
uals ; in its attitude toward women, even though 
it comes from the ancient East; and above all 
in its protection of widows and orphans, this 
code marks almost as high a stage in the reve- 
lation of what is right as the primitive Old 
Testament laws, with which it has points of 
striking resemblance. 

The evolution of ancient Egyptian civiliza- 
tion and religion was parallel at almost every 



The Earliest Chapters in Divine Revelation 47 

stage with that of Babylonia, only in the dreamy a general 
land of the Nile the pantheon and the vast faf£entfa 
body of variant myths were never so thoroughly \ e ^ ^ and 
coordinated. The result is that its religion Egypt and 

° Babylonia 

forever remains a labyrinth. Since all interest 
centred about the future life, instead of com- 
mercial pursuits, there is no evidence that 
the Egyptians ever produced a legal code 
at all comparable with that of Hammurabi. 
They did, however, develop a doctrine of sin 
which anticipates that of the Hebrew prophets. 
While the Babylonians conceived of sin as 
simply the failure to bring offerings, or to ob- 
serve the demands of the ritual, or, in general, 
to pay proper homage to the gods, the Egyptians 
held that each individual was answerable, not 
only to the state, but also to the gods, for his 
every act and thought. 

If they admitted of a comparison, it would Significance 
be safe to say that the Babylonian religion and feUgiouT y 
law in the days of Hammurabi were as far P ro # r<3SS 
removed from the crude belief in spirits and the 
barbarous cults and practices of primitive man 
as the teachings of Jesus were from those of the 
kingly Babylonian lawgiver and his priestly 
advisers. Humanity's debt is exceedingly great 
to the thousands of devoted souls who, in an- 
cient Babylonia and Egypt, according to their 



48 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

dim light, groped for God and the right. In 
part they found what they sought, although 
they never ceased to look through a glass 
darkly. 
Its arrest The sad and significant fact is that from the 

days of Hammurabi to those of Nebuchadrezzar, 
Babylonian religion, law, and ethics almost 
entirely ceased to develop. No other great 
kings with prophetic insight appear to have 
arisen to hold up before the nation the prin- 
ciples of justice and mercy and true piety. 
The old superstitions and magic also continued 
in Babylonia as in Egypt to exercise more and 
more their baneful influence. Saddest of all 
the priesthood and ceremonialism, which had 
already reached a point of development com- 
mensurate and strikingly analogous to that of 
later Judaism, became the dominant power in 
the state, and defined religion not in terms of 
life and action, but of the ritual, and so con- 
stricted it that all true growth was impos- 
sible. Hence the religions of the Babylonians 
and Egyptians perished, like many others, be- 
cause they ceased to grow, and therefore degen- 
erated into a mere worship of the letter rather 
than the spirit. 



IV 

THE PLACE OP THE OLD TESTA- 
MENT IN DIVINE REVELATION 



IV 



THE PLACE OF THE OLD TESTA- 
MENT IN DIVINE REVELATION 

Modern discovery and research have demon- Advent of 
strated that the truth revealed through the 
Babylonians and with less defmiteness through 
the people of the Nile was never entirely lost. 
Such a sad waste was out of accord with the ob- 
vious principles of divine economy. As the icy 
chill of ceremonialism seized decadent Babylo- 
nia and Egypt, there emerged from the steppes 
south and east of Palestine a virile, ambitious 
group of nomads, who not only fell heir to that 
which was best in the revelation of the past, 
but also quickly took their place as the real spir- 
itual leaders of the human race. Possibly their 
ancestors, like those of Hammurabi, belonged 
to that wave of nomadic emigration which 
swept out of overpopulated northern Arabia 
about 2500 b. c, part of it to settle finally in 
Babylonia and part in Palestine. 

"Whatever be the exact date of their advent, Why were 
the much mooted and more fundamental ques- chosen * 
tion at once presents itself, Why were the people? 



52 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Hebrews " the chosen people " ? It is safe to 
assert at once that this was not arbitrary nor 
without reason. Moreover, the choice was not 
that of a moment, but gradual. Rather the real 
question is, By what divine process were the 
Israelites prepared to be the chosen people that 
their later prophets and the event of history 
declare them to be? Certain definite historical 
reasons at once suggest themselves; and these 
in turn throw new light upon the true relation 
of the Old Testament to divine revelation as a 
whole. 
Their prepa- There is undoubtedly a basis for what Ren an 

ration to be . . 

the chosen was pleased to call, " the Semitic genius for 
gemus'for religion." It is a truly significant fact that the 
religion three great conquering religions of the world, 
Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism, 
sprang from Semitic soil. To this might be 
added the religion of Babylonia, which was un- 
questionably the noblest of early antiquity. In 
general the Semitic mind is keen, alert, recep- 
tive, and intuitional rather than logical. Rest- 
less energy and the tendency to acquire have 
also tended to make them leaders in the widely 
different fields of commerce and religion. The 
patriarch Jacob is a remarkable example of these 
combined qualities and results. By day he got 
the better of his kinsmen, and by night he 



Its Place in Divine Revelation 53 

wrestled with God. These combined and highly- 
developed characteristics of mind and nature at 
least suggest why the Semites have furnished 
the greatest prophets and prophet nations for 
the moulding of the faith of the world. 

In contrast with contemporary Semitic na- Inheritance 
tions, and especially the highly civilized Baby- Arabian 
lonians, the Hebrews were fortunate in their antecedents 
immediate inheritances through Arabian or 
Aramean ancestors. The wandering, nomadic 
life leaves no place for established sanctuaries, 
with their elaborate ceremonial customs and 
debasing institutions inherited from more primi- 
tive ages. Instead, that life imposes limitations 
that make for simplicity. The mysteries and 
constant dangers of the wild desert existence 
also emphasize the constant necessity of divine 
help. The long marches by night under the 
silent stars inspire awe and enforce contempla- 
tion. The close unity of the tribe suggests the 
worship of one tribal god rather than many. 
From the desert the ancestors of the Hebrews 
brought strong bodies, inured to hardship, and 
a grim austerity that found frequent expression 
on the lips of their prophets and a response in 
the minds of the people, when luxury threatened 
to engulf them. They also inherited from their 
desert days those democratic ideas and high 



54 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

ideals of individual liberty which enabled Elijah 
and Isaiah to stand up and champion the rights 
of the people even though it involved a public 
denunciation of their kings. 
Contact with On the other hand, the Israelites undoubt- 
civiUzatlon e ^-J became in time the inheritors of the best 
in religion and law that had been attained by 
the older Semitic races. Their late traditions 
trace back their ancestry to ancient Babylonia. 
Already for long centuries, by conquest and 
by commerce, the dominant civilization of the 
Euphrates valley had been regnant in the land 
of Canaan. The Tell-el-Amarna letters, writ- 
ten from Palestine in the fourteenth century, 
employ the Babylonian language and system 
of writing, and reveal a high Semitic civiliza- 
tion, closely patterned after that of Babylonia. 
When the Israelites settled in Canaan and be- 
gan to intermarry and assimilate with the older 
inhabitants, as the earliest Hebrew records 
plainly state (cf. Judg. i.), they found there, 
among the Canaanites, established civil and re- 
ligious institutions and traditions which were 
largely a reflection of those of Babylonia. Also, 
when in the eighth and seventh centuries As- 
syrian armies conquered Palestine, they brought 
Babylonian institutions, traditions, and religious 
ideas. We know that during the reigns of 



Its Place in Divine Revelation 55 

Ahaz and Manasseh these threatened to dis- 
place those peculiar to the Hebrews. Again, 
during the Babylonian exile the influence of 
the same powerful civilization upon the thought 
and religion of Israel was also strongly felt. 
Thus the opportunities, direct and indirect, 
for receiving from Babylonia much of the rich 
heritage that it held were many and varied. 

Certain parts of the Old Testament itself Heirs of the 
testify that the wealth of tradition, of institu- civilizations 
tions, of laws, and religious ideas, gradually 
committed to the Semitic ancestors of the He- 
brews and best preserved by the Babylonians, 
was not lost, but, enriched and purified, has 
been transmitted to us through its pages. A 
careful comparison of the biblical and Baby- 
lonian accounts of the creation and the flood 
leaves little doubt that there is a close histori- 
cal connection between these accounts. Inves- 
tigation reveals in language, spirit, and form 
many analogies between the laws of Hammu- 
rabi and those of the Old Testament which sug- 
gest at least an indirect influence. Many of 
the ceremonial institutions of later Judaism 
are almost identical with those of Babylonia. 
While it is exceedingly easy to over or under 
estimate this influence, it is a mistake to deny 
or ignore its deep significance. 



56 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Recipients Thus one of the chief elements in the provi- 
tasblsfin dential training of the Hebrews as the heralds 
earlier reve- an( j exponents of the most exalted religious 
and ethical truths revealed before the advent of 
the Prophet of Nazareth was the fact that they 
were the heirs and interpreters of the best that 
had been hitherto attained. Babylonia, Egypt, 
and later, Persia and Greece, each contributed 
their noblest beliefs and ideals. In the Isra- 
elites the diverse streams of divine revelation 
converged. The result is that, instead of many 
little rivulets, befouled by errors and supersti- 
tions, through their history there flowed a 
mighty stream, ever becoming broader and 
deeper and clearer as it received fresh con- 
tributions from the new fountains of purest 
revelation that opened in Hebrew soil. 
In close Clear evidences of the divine purpose to be 

rtlations^o realized through the obscure peasant people who 
the earher n Ye( { among the uplands of central Canaan are 

civilizations ° *■ 

found in a study of the characteristics of the 
Old Testament world. It is indeed the earliest 
and one of the most significant chapters in 
divine revelation. Most of its area is a barren 
wilderness, supporting only a small nomadic 
population. The three fertile spots are Baby- 
lonia, Canaan, and Egypt. The first and last 
are fitted by nature and situation to be the seats 



Its Place in Divine Revelation 57 

of powerful civilizations, destined to reach out 
in every direction. Canaan, on the contrary, is 
shut in, with no good harbors along the Medi- 
terranean ; and its largest river system leads to 
the Dead Sea, far below the surface of the 
ocean, — an effective negation to all commerce. 
Although thus shut in by itself, Canaan lies on 
the isthmus of fertile land that connects the 
great empires of the Nile and the Euphrates. 
On the east and south it is always subject to 
the influences and waves of immigration that 
come from the Arabian desert. It attracted 
from their nomadic life the ancestors of the 
Israelites, and during their early period of de- 
velopment gave them a secluded home. When 
they were ready to learn the larger lessons in 
the stream of life, Egypt and the great empires 
of the Tigris and Euphrates valley contended 
for them, conquered and ultimately scattered 
them throughout the then known world. While 
their conquerors, Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, 
Persia, Greece, and Rome, the greatest powers 
of the ancient world, took from them their gold 
and their freedom, from the same conquerors 
they appear to have received the infinitely more 
precious treasures of tradition and thought. 

Great as was their heritage from the past, the 
truth that came through the Hebrews them- 



58 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Trained by selves constitutes by far the greatest and most 
nZional 1 ' significant part of that revelation which the Old 
experience, Testament records. Their history suggests the 
ways in which Jehovah opened the spiritual 
eyes of the people. From the beginning to the 
present day it has been characterized by a series 
of crises unparalleled in the life of any other 
race. Experiences, intense and often superla- 
tively painful, have come to them in rapid suc- 
cession, forcing them to think and develop. 
The little street Arab, alert, resourceful, un- 
canny in his prematurity, is a modern illustra- 
tion of what grim necessity and experience can 
produce. It was in the school supremely adapted 
to divine ends that Jehovah trained his people 
to be his spokesmen to the world. 
Guided by Other peoples, however, had their crises and 
U ua?teaSxlr\' yet had no such message as did the Israelites. 
What made the crises in the history of the 
Israelites richly fruitful in ethical and spiritual 
truth was the presence within their midst of 
certain devoted, responsive teachers, and espe- 
cially the prophets, who guided them in their 
time of peril, interpreted its significance, and 
appealed to the awakened conscience of the 
nation. Like begets like. At the beginning 
of Israel's history stands the great prophet 
Moses, and during the long centuries that fol- 



Its Place in Divine Revelation 59 

lowed the voice of the prophets was rarely 
hushed. 

In seeking the ultimate answer to our ques- Taught by 
tion, How were the Israelites prepared to beJJSSi, 
the chosen people, we are confronted by a mir- 
acle that baffles our power to analyze : it is the 
supreme fact that the Spirit of the Almighty 
touched the spirit of certain men in ancient 
Israel so that they became seers and prophets. 
This is their own testimony, and their deeds and 
words amply confirm it. The experiences of 
men to-day also demonstrate its possibility. 
Indeed it is not surprising, but most natural, 
that the one supreme Personality in the universe 
should reveal himself to and through human 
minds, and that the most enlightened men of 
the most spiritually enlightened race should 
be the recipients of the fullest and most perfect 
revelation. It is the truth that they thus per- 
ceived, and then proclaimed by word and deed 
and pen, that completed the preparation of the 
chosen people, for it was none other than the 
possession of a unique spiritual message that 
constituted the essence of their choice. Fur- 
thermore, as the greatest of the later prophets 
declares (Is. xl.-lv.), that divine choice did not 
mean that they were to be the recipients of 
exceptional favors, but rather that they were 



ment 



60 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

called to service. By the patient enduring of 
suffering and by voluntary self-sacrifice they 
were to perfect the revelation of God's charac- 
ter and will in the life of humanity. 
Jesus' rela- The Old Testament, therefore, is the final 
Old Testa- record of a revelation extending through thou- 
sands of years, finding at last its most exalted ex- 
pression in the messages of the Hebrew prophets, 
and its clearest reflection in the thoughts and 
experiences of the priests, sages, and psalmists 
of ancient Israel. In varied literary forms and 
by many different writers the best fruits of that 
revelation have been preserved. Ancient tradi- 
tions, songs, proverbs, laws, historical narratives, 
prophecies, and psalms, each present their pre- 
cious truth. The Israelitish race, however, never 
fully completed the work to which it was called. 
A master was needed to distinguish between the 
essential and the non-essential, to simplify and 
unify the teachings of the Old Testament as a 
whole, and to apply them personally to indi- 
vidual life. A man was demanded to realize 
fully in his own character the highest ideals 
of this ancient revelation. A divinely gifted 
prophet was required to perfect man's knowl- 
edge, and to bring him into natural, harmonious 
relations with his Eternal Father. The world 
awaited the advent of a Messiah who would 



Its Place in Divine Bevelation 61 

establish, on the everlasting foundations of 
justice and truth and love, the universal king- 
dom of God. These supreme needs were met 
in fullest measure by the Master, the perfect 
Man, the Prophet, and the Messiah, whose 
work the New Testament records. 

While there are many superficial points of Points of 
difference in language, literary form, back- contact be- 
ground, and point of view between the Old and two Testa- 
the New Testaments, these are insignificant in ments 
comparison with the essential points of likeness 
and contact. Each Testament is but a different 
chapter in the history of the same divine reve- 
lation. The one is the foundation on which 
the other is built. The writers of the New con- 
stantly assume the historical facts, the institu- 
tions, and the teachings of the Old. Although 
in Greek garb, their language and idioms are 
also those of the Old. On many themes, as, for 
example, man's duty to society, Jesus said little, 
for the teachers of his race had fully developed 
them and there was little to add. Repeatedly 
by word and act he declared that he came not 
to destroy the older teachings, but simply to 
bring them to full perfection. The Old Testa- 
ment also tells of the long years of preparation 
and of the earnest expectations of the Israelitish 
race; the New records a fulfilment far tran- 



62 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

scending the most exalted hopes of Hebrew 
seers. The same God reveals himself through 
both Testaments. One progressively unfolding 
system of religious teachings, one message of 
love, and one divine purpose bind both together 
with bonds that no generation or church can 
break. 



THE INFLUENCES THAT PRODUCED 
THE NEW TESTAMENT 



THE INFLUENCES THAT PRODUCED 
THE NEW TESTAMENT 

The present age is supremely interested in Importance 
origins. Not until we have traced the genesis of origins y 
and earliest unfolding of an institution or an 
idea or a literature do we feel that we really 
understand aud appreciate it. Familiarity with 
that which is noble breeds not contempt but 
reverence, and intelligent devotion. Acquaint- 
ance with the origin and history of a book is 
essential to its true interpretation. Therefore 
it is fortunate that modern discovery and re- 
search have thrown so much light upon the 
origin of both the Old and the New Testaments. 

Equally fortunate is it that we are also learn- The growing 
ing to appreciate the sublimity and divinity of S^IV™ 
the natural. The universe and organic life are jf v "„f l * 
no less wonderful and awe-inspiring because, 
distinguishing some of the natural laws that 
govern their evolution, we have abandoned 
the grotesque theories held by primitive men. 
Similarly we do not to-day demand, as did our 
forefathers, a supernatural origin for our sacred 
5 



66 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

books before we are ready to revere and obey 
their commands. With greater insight we now 
can heartily sing, " God moves in a natural way 
his wonders to perform." Our ability to trace 
the historical influences through which he 
brought into being and shaped the two Testa- 
ments and gave them their present position in 
the life of humanity does not in a thoughtful 
mind obscure, but rather reveals the more clearly, 
their divine origin and authority. 
Value of the Through contemporary writings and the re- 
ttulyofthe suits of modern biblical research it is possibly to 
bo^Teita- s t U( ty definitely the origin of the various New 
ments Testament books and to follow the different 

stages in their growth into a canon. This fa- 
miliar chapter in the history of the Bible is 
richly suggestive, because of the clear light 
which it sheds upon the more complex and ob- 
scure genesis and later development of the Old 
Testament. It will be profitable, therefore, to 
review it in outline, not only because of its own 
importance, but also as an introduction to the 
study of the influences that produced the older 
Scriptures; for almost every fact that will be 
noted in connection with the origin and literary 
history of the New has its close analogy in the 
growth of the Old Testament. 

We find that as they are at present arranged, 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 67 

the books of the New Testament are divided The three- 
into three distinct classes. The first group in- i n g $}*$£" 
eludes the historical books: the Gospels and^^J" 
Acts; the second, the Epistles — the longer, 
like the letters to the Romans and Corinthians, 
being placed first and the shorter at the end; 
while the third group contains but one book, 
known as the Apocalypse or Revelation. The 
general arrangement is clearly according to sub- 
ject-matter, not according to date of authorship ; 
the order of the groups represent different stages 
in the process of canonization. 

Their position as well as the themes which Why the 

. , . _, _ . Gospels are 

they treat suggest that the Gospels were the not the 
first to be written. It is, however, a self-evi- ear test 
dent fact that a book was not written — at least 
not in antiquity, when the making of books was 
both laborious and expensive — unless a real 
need for it was felt. If we go back, and live 
for a moment in imagination among the band of 
followers which Jesus left behind at his death, 
we see clearly that while the early Christian 
Church was limited to Palestine, and a large 
company of disciples, who had often themselves 
seen and heard the Christ, lived to tell by word 
of mouth the story of his life and teachings, no 
one desired a written record. It is not surpris- 
ing, therefore, that the oldest books in the New 



68 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Testament are not the Gospels. The exigen- 
cies of time and space and the burning zeal of 
the apostles for the churches of their plant- 
ing apparently produced the earliest Christian 
writings. 
Origin of the In his second missionary journey Paul 
epistles preached for a time at Thessalonica, winning 
to faith in the Christ a small mixed company of 
Jews and proselyte Greeks. His success aroused 
the bitter opposition of the narrower Jews, who 
raised a mob and drove him from the city before 
his work was completed. But the seed which 
he had planted continued to grow. Naturally 
he was eager to return to the infant church. 
Twice he planned to visit it, but was prevented. 
In his intense desire to help the brave Christians 
of Thessalonica, he sent Timothy to inquire re- 
garding their welfare and to encourage them. 
When about 50 A. d. Timothy reported to Paul 
at Corinth, the apostle wrote at once to the little 
church at Thessalonica a letter of commendation, 
encouragement, and counsel, which we know to- 
day as First Thessalonians and which is probably 
one of the oldest writings in our New Testament, 
Galatians perhaps being the earliest. 
Paul's later Another letter (II Thess.) soon followed, giv- 

epistles 

ing more detailed advice. As the field of Paul's 
activity broadened, he was obliged more and 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 69 

more to depend upon letters, since he could 
not in person visit the churches which he had 
planted. Questions of doctrine as well as of 
practice which perplexed the different churches 
were treated in these epistles. To certain of his 
assistants, like Timothy, he wrote dealing with 
their personal problems. Frankly, forcibly, and 
feelingly Paul poured out in these letters the 
wealth of his personal and soul life. They 
reveal his faith in the making as well as his 
mature teachings. Since he was dealing with 
definite conditions in the communities to which 
he wrote, his letters are also invaluable contem- 
porary records of the growth and history of the 
early Christian church. Thus between 30 and 
60 A. D., during the period of his greatest activ- 
ity, certainly ten, and probably thirteen, of our 
twenty-seven New Testament books came from 
the burning heart of the apostle to the Gen- 
tiles. 

Similar needs impelled other apostles and Growth of 
early Christian teachers to write on the same epistles 
themes with the same immediate purpose as did 
Paul. The result is a series of epistles, asso- 
ciated with the names of James, Peter, John, 
and Jude. In some, like Third John, the per- 
sonal element is predominant ; in others, the di- 
dactic, as, for example, the Epistle of James. 



70 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Purpose of A somewhat different type of literature is 
tothe lS e represented by the Epistle to the Hebrews. Its 
Hebrews i 0lm i s that of a letter, and it was without doubt 
originally addressed to a local church or churches 
by a writer whose name has ever since been a 
fertile source of conjecture. The only fact defi- 
nitely established is that Paul did not write it. 
It is essentially a combination of argument, doc- 
trine, and exhortation. The aim is apologetic as 
well as practical. Most of Paul's letters were 
written as the thoughts, which he wished to 
communicate to those to whom he wrote, came 
to his mind ; but in the Epistle to the Hebrews 
the author evidently follows a carefully elabo- 
rated plan. The argument is cumulative. The 
thesis is that Christ, superior to all earlier 
teachers of his race, is the perfect Mediator 
of Salvation. 
Value of the Thus the Epistles, originally personal notes 

Epistles P . t 

of encouragement and warning, growing some- 
times into more elaborate treatises, were made 
the means whereby the early Christian teachers 
imparted their doctrines to constantly widening 
groups of readers. At best they were regarded 
simply as inferior substitutes for the personal 
presence and spoken words of their authors. 
Like the Old Testament books, their authority 
lies in the fact that they faithfully reflect, in part 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 71 

at least, the greater revelation coming through 
the lives and minds of the early apostles. 

As is well known, the twenty-one letters in The larger 
our New Testament were selected from a f ar 9 
larger collection of epistles, some of which were 
early lost, while others, like the Epistles of 
Barnabas and Polycarp and Clement, were 
preserved to share with those later accepted 
as canonical, the study and veneration of the 
primitive Church. 

The influences which originally produced the Influences 
Gospels and Acts were very different from those tJtheearUest 
which called forth the Epistles. The natural Gospels 
preference of the early Christians for the spoken 
word explains why we do not possess to-day a 
single written sentence in the Gospels which we 
can with absolute assurance assign to the first 
quarter-century following the death of Jesus. 
Two influences, however, in time led certain 
writers to record his early life and teachings. 
The one was that death was rapidly thinning the 
ranks of those who could say, / saw and heard; 
the other was the spread of Christianity beyond 
the bounds of Judaism and Palestine, and the 
resulting need for detailed records felt by those 
Christians who had never visited Palestine and 
who had learned from the lips of apostles only 
the barest facts regarding the life of the Christ. 



72 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Testimony The opening verses of Luke's Gospel are richly 
Gospel suggestive of the origin and growth of the his- 
torical books of the New Testament : 

Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to 
draw up a narrative concerning those matters 
which have been fulfilled among us, even as 
they delivered them unto us, — they who 
from the beginning were eye-witnesses and 
ministers of the word, it seemed good to me 
also, having traced the course of all things 
accurately from the first, to write unto thee 
in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou 
mightest know the certainty concerning the 
things wherein thou wast instructed. 

This prologue states that many shorter Gos- 
pels had previously been written, not by eye- 
witnesses, but by men who had listened to those 
who had themselves seen. Luke leaves his 
readers to infer that he also drew a large number 
of his facts from these earlier sources as well as 
from the testimony of eye-witnesses. The im- 
plication of the prologue is that he himself was 
entirely dependent upon written and oral sources 
for his data. This is confirmed by the testimony 
of the Muratorian Fragment : 

Luke the physician, after the ascension of 
Christ, when Paul had taken him, as it were, 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 73 

as a follower zealous of the right, wrote the 
gospel book according to Luke in his own 
name, as is believed. Nevertheless he had 
not himself seen the Lord in the flesh, and, 
accordingly, going back as far as he could 
obtain information, he began his narrative 
with the birth of John. 

His many literal quotations from it and the fact 
that he makes it the framework of his own, 
indicate that Mark's Gospel was one of those 
earlier attempts to which he refers. 

The motive which influenced Luke to write Luke's 
is clearly stated. It was to prepare a compre- wr iting 
hensive, accurate, and orderly account of the 
facts in regard to the life of Jesus for his Greek 
friend Theophilus, who had already been par- 
tially instructed in the same. His Gospel con- 
firms the implications of the prologue. It is 
the longest and most carefully arranged of all 
the Gospels. The distinctively Jewish ideas or 
institutions which are prominent in Matthew 
are omitted or else explained; hence there is 
nothing which would prove unintelligible to a 
Greek. The book of the Acts of the Apostles, 
dedicated to the same patron, is virtually a 
continuation of the third Gospel, tracing, in a 
more or less fragmentary manner, the history 



74 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

and growth of the early Christian Church, and 
especially the work of Paul. 
Purpose of Very similar influences called forth the short- 

Mark's 

Gospel est and undoubtedly the oldest of the four Gos- 
pels, the book of Mark. The testimony of the 
contents confirms in general the early statement 
of Papias and other Christian Fathers that it 
was written at Rome by John Mark, the disciple 
and interpreter of the apostle Peter, after the 
death of his teacher. The absence of many Old 
Testament quotations, the careful explanation 
of all Jewish and Palestinian references which 
would not be intelligible to a foreigner, the 
presence of certain Latin words, and many 
other indications, all tend to establish the con- 
clusion that it was written for the Gentile and 
Jewish Christians, probably at Rome, and that 
its purpose was simply historical. 
The twofold The memoir of Jesus, which we know as the 
^thl Gospel Gospel of Matthew, is from the hand of a Jewish 
of Matthew christian and, as is shown by the amount of 
material drawn from Mark's Gospel, must be 
placed at a later date. The great number of 
quotations from the Old Testament, the interest 
in tracing the fulfilment of the Messianic pre- 
dictions, and the distinctively Jewish-Christian 
point of view and method of interpretation, in- 
dicate clearly that he wrote not with Gentile but 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 75 

Jewish Christians in mind. Nevertheless, like 
that of Mark and Luke, his purpose was pri- 
marily to present a faithful and, as far as his 
sources permitted, detailed picture of the life 
and teachings of Jesus. His arrangement of his 
material appears, however, to be logical rather 
than purely chronological. The different sec- 
tions and the individual incidents and teachings 
each contribute to the great argument of the 
book, namely, that Jesus was the true Messiah 
of the Jews ; that the Jews, since they rejected 
him, forfeited their birthright; and that his 
kingdom, fulfilling and inheriting the Old Testa- 
ment promises, has become a universal kingdom, 
open to all races and freed from all Jewish 
bonds. 1 This suggests that the First Gospel 
represents a more mature stage in the thought 
of the early Church than Mark and Luke. 

Its title and the fact that the Church Fathers Origin of 

, . . . .. .. . . ... Matthew's 

constantly connect it with Matthew, the publi- Sayings of 
can, and later apostle is explained by the state- e5US 
ment of Papias, quoted by Eusebius : 

Matthew accordingly composed the oracles in 
the Hebrew dialect, and each one interpreted 
them as he was able (H. E., iii. 39). 

1 Cf. e.g., x. 5, 6; xv. 24; viii. 11, 12; xii. 38-45; 
xxi. 42, 43; xxii. 7; xxiii. 13, 36, 38; xxiv. 2; xxviii. 
19. 



76 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

These oracles evidently consisted of a written 
collection of the sayings of Jesns. Since they 
were largely if not entirely included in our First 
Gospel, it was therefore known as The Gos- 
pel of Matthew. There is no evidence that the 
original Matthew's Sayings of Jesus contained 
definite narrative material. The fact that the 
First Gospel draws so largely from Mark for 
its historical data would indicate that this was 
not supplied by its main source. The Say- 
ings of Jesus was probably the oldest written 
record of the work of Jesus, for, while oral 
tradition easily remembers incidents, discon- 
nected teachings are not so readily preserved by 
the memory. Their transcendent importance 
would also furnish a strong incentive to use 
the pen. It was natural also that, of all the 
disciples, the ex-customs officer of Capernaum 
should be the one to undertake this transcend- 
ently important task. 
Aim of the The Fourth is clearly the latest of the Gos- 
Gospd P e l s > f° r ^ does not attempt fully to reproduce 
the facts presented in the other three, but as- 
sumes their existence. Its doctrines are also 
more fully developed, and its aim is not simply 
the giving of historical facts and teachings, but 
also, as it clearly states, that those reading it 
might believe that Jesus was the Christ, the son of 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 77 

God, and that believing they might have life in 
his name (xx. 31). The motive that produced it 
was, therefore, apologetic and evangelical rather 
than merely historical. 

A detailed comparison of the differences be- Review of 
tween the Gospels, as well as of their many ^ospefc 
points of likeness which often extend to exact 
verbal agreement, furnishes the data for recon- 
structing their history. In general the resulting 
conclusions are in perfect harmony with the 
testimony of the Church Fathers. Mark, the 
shortest and more distinctively narrative Gospel, 
is clearly the oldest of the four. Possibly it was 
originally intended to be the supplement of the 
other early source, Matthew's Sayings of Jesus, 
now known only through quotations. These 
two earliest known Christian records of the 
work of the Master in their original form were 
the chief sources quoted in the First and Third 
Gospels. So largely is Mark thus reproduced 
that, if lost, it would be possible from these 
to restore the book with the exception of only 
a few verses. But in addition, Matthew and 
Luke each have material peculiar to them- 
selves, suggesting other independent written as 
well as oral sources. To such shorter written 
Gospels, and also to the oral testimony of eye- 
witnesses, Luke refers in his prologue. In the 



78 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Fourth Gospel, the doctrinal motive already 
apparent in Matthew, and prominent in the 
Church at the beginning of the second Chris- 
tian century, takes the precedence of the merely 
historical. A distinct source, the personal ob- 
servation of the beloved disciple, probably also 
furnishes the majority of the illustrations which 
are here so effectively arrayed. 
Influences More complex were the influences which pro- 
duledThe duced the single example of the third type of 
apocalypses ^ ew Testament literature, — the Apocalypse, or 
Book of Revelation. The so-called apocalyptic 
type of literature was a characteristic product 
of later Judaism. The Book of Daniel is the 
most familiar example. Although in the age of 
scribism the voice of the prophets was regarded 
as silent, and the only authority recognized was 
that of the past, the popular Messianic hopes of 
the people continued to find expression anony- 
mously in the form of apocalypses. In the 
periods of their greatest distress Jews and 
Christians found encouragement and inspiration 
in the pictures of the future. Since the present 
situation was so hopeless, they looked for a 
supernatural transformation, which would result 
in the triumph of the right and the establish- 
ment of the rule of the Messiah. Underlying 
all the apocalypses is the eternal truth voiced by 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 79 

the poet : " God 's in his heaven and all 's right 
with the world." 

The immediate historical background of the Origin of the 

& Book of 

Apocalypse is the bitter struggle between Revelation 
Christianity and heathenism. Rome has become 
drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood 
of the martyrs of Jesus (xvii. 6). The contest 
centres about the worship of the beast, — that 
is, Caesar. The book possibly includes older 
apocalypses which reflect earlier conflicts, but 
in its present form it apparently comes from the 
closing years of Domitian's reign. The obvious 
aim of its Jewish Christian writer was to en- 
courage his readers by glowing pictures of the 
coming victory of the Lamb, and thus to steel 
them for unfaltering resistance to the assaults 
of heathenism. The purpose which actuated 
the writer was therefore in certain respects 
the same as that which led Paul to write his 
letter to the persecuted church of Thessalonica, 
although the form in which that purpose was 
realized was fundamentally different. 

Many other apocalypses were written by the The literary 
early Christians. The one recently discovered the first four 
and associated with the name of Peter is perhaps centunes 
the most important. Thus, the second half of 
the first century after the death of Jesus wit- 
nessed the birth of a large Christian literature, 



80 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

consisting of epistles, gospels, and apocalypses. 
The work of the next three centuries was the 
appreciation and the selection of the books 
which to-day constitute our New Testament. 
The influences which led to this consummation 
may be followed almost as clearly as those which 
produced the individual books. 
Influences Early in the second century the motives 
the canoniza- which had originally led certain Christians to 
tosfels 6 mite the four Gos P els induced the Church to 
regard those books as the most authentic, and 
therefore authoritative, records of the life and 
teachings of the Master. We have no distinc- 
tive history of the process. It was gradual, and 
probably almost unconscious. The fact that 
three of the Gospels were associated with the 
names of apostles and the other with Luke, the 
faithful companion of Paul, undoubtedly tended 
to establish their authority; but the chief canon- 
izing influence was the need of such records for 
private and public reading. The production, 
early in the second century, of spurious gospels, 
like the Gospel of Marcion, written to furnish a 
literary basis for certain heretical doctrines, also 
the desire of the Church Fathers to have rec- 
ords to which they could appeal as authoritative 
hastened the formation of the first New Testa- 
ment canon. The use of the Gospels in the 



Influences that Produced the New Testament 81 

services of the church, which probably began 
before the close of the first Christian century, 
by degrees gave them an authority equal to that 
of the Old Testament Scriptures. The earliest 
canon consisted simply of these four books. 
They seem to have been universally accepted by 
the Western Church by the middle of the second 
century. About 152 A. d. Justin Martyr, in 
proving his positions, refers to the Memoirs of 
the Apostles compiled by Christ's apostles and 
those who associated ivith them, and during the 
same decade his pupil Tatian made his Liates- 
saron by combining our present four Gospels. 

Meantime the natural desire to supplement The second 
the teachings of Jesus by those of the Apostles the New 
led the Church to single out certain of the Testament - 
epistles and associate them with the Gospels. 
Already in the first century the apostolic 
epistles and traditions were cherished by the 
individual churches to which they had been 
first directed. In time, however, the need for a 
written record of the apostolic teachings and 
work became widely felt. Hence, by the end of 
the second century, Acts and the thirteen 
Pauline epistles, First Peter, First John, and 
the Apocalypse, were by common consent placed 
side by side with the Gospels, at least by the 
leaders of the Western Church. 

6 



82 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



The dis- Regarding the authority of the remaining 

New Testament books, Hebrews, James, First 
and Second John, and Jude, opinion long re- 
mained undecided. Concerning them an earnest 
discussion was carried on for the next two cen- 
turies. By certain leaders in the Church they 
were regarded as authoritative, while elsewhere 
and at different periods, other books, like the 
Gospel to the Hebrews, the Epistle of Barnabas, 
Clement's Epistle to the Corinthians, the Shep- 
herd of Hermas, and the Apocalypse of Peter, 
were included in the canon and even given the 
priority over the disputed books later included 
in our New Testament. 

The final decision represents the result of an 
open and prolonged and yet quiet consideration 
of the merits of each book and of its claims to 
apostolic authority. The ablest scholars of the 
early Christian Church devoted their best ener- 
gies to the problem. Gradually, thoughtfully, 
prayerfully, and by testing them in the labora- 
tory of experience, the Christian world separated 
the twenty-seven books which we find to-day in 
our New Testament from the much larger herit- 
age of kindred writings which come from the 
early Christian centuries. Time and later con- 
sideration have fully approved the selection and 
confirmed the belief that through the minds of 



Final com- 
pletion of 
the New 
Testament 
canon 






Influences that Produced the New Testament 83 

consecrated men God was realizing his purpose 
for mankind. As is well known, at the Council 
of Carthage, in 397 A. D., the Western world at 
last formally accepted them, although the Syrian 
churches continued for centuries to retain a 
somewhat different canon. 

This brief historical study of the origin of our Conclusions 
New Testament has demonstrated twelve sig- study of the 
nificant facts: (1) That the original authors oi 1 ^™ 6 ? 
the different books never suspected that their d Jt ced fi e 

* Jyew lesta- 

writings would have the universal value and ment 
authority which they now rightfully enjoy. 
(2) That they at first regarded them as merely 
an imperfect substitute for verbal teaching and 
personal testimony. (3) That in each case 
they had definite individuals and conditions in 
mind. (4) That the needs of the rapidly grow- 
ing Church and the varied and trying experi- 
ences through which it passed were all potent 
factors in influencing the authors of the New 
Testament to write. (5) That certain books, 
especially the historical, like Luke and Matthew, 
are composite, consisting of material taken 
bodily from older documents, like Matthew's 
Sayings of Jesus and the original narrative of 
Mark. (6) That our New Testament books 
are only a part of a much larger early Christian 
literature. (7) That they are unquestionably, 



\f 



84 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

however, the most valuable and representative 
writings of that larger literature. (8) That 
they were only gradually selected and ascribed 
a value and authority equal to that of the Old 
Testament writings. (9) That there were 
three distinct stages in the formation of the 
New Testament canon: the gospels were first 
recognized as authorative ; then Acts, the Apos- 
tolic Epistles, and the Apocalypse ; and last of 
all, the complete canon. (10) That the canon 
was formed as a result of the need felt by later 
generations, in connection with their study and 
worship, for reliable records of the history and 
teachings of Christianity. (11) That the prin- 
ciples of selection depended ultimately upon the 
intrinsic character of the books themselves and 
the authority ascribed to their reputed authors. 
(12) That the process of selection continued 
for fully three centuries, and that the results 
represent the thoughtful, enlightened judgment 
of thousands of devoted Christians. Thus 
through definite historical forces and the minds 
and wills of men, the Eternal Father gradually 
perfected the record of his supreme revelation 
to humanity. 



VI 

THE GROWTH OF THE OLD TESTA- 
MENT PROPHETIC HISTORIES 



VI 



THE GROWTH OF THE OLD TESTA- 
MENT PROPHETIC HISTORIES 



Very similar influences were at work in pro- Analogies 
ducing and shaping both the Old and the New £J[ ee 



uences 

e 



Testaments; only in the history of the older J a *§ r J£ 
Scriptures still other forces can be distinguished, two Testa- 

ments 

Moreover, the Old Testament contains a much 
greater variety of literature. It is also signifi- 
cant that, while some of the New Testament 
books began to be canonized less than a century 
after they were written, there is clear evidence 
that many of the Old Testament writings were 
in existence several centuries before they were 
gathered together into a canon and thus crystal- 
lized into their final form. The inevitable re- 
sult is that they bear the marks of much more 
elaborate editorial revision than those of the 
New. It is, however, not the aim of the present 
work to trace this complex process of revision 
in detail, nor to give the cumulative evidence 
and the many data and reasons that lead to each 
conclusion. These can be studied in any modern 



oftheCHd 071 Testament, like those of the New, fall into three 
^estament c i asses# The first includes the historical books. 



83 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Old Testament introduction or in the volumes 
of the present writer's Student's Old Testament. 
The present In their present form, the books of the Old 

cla, 
ofi 
Te 

books 

In the Old, corresponding to the four Gospels 
and Acts of the New, are found the books from 
Genesis through Esther. Next in order, in the 
Old, stand the poetical books, from Job through 
the Song of Songs, with which the New Test- 
ament has no analogy except the liturgical 
hymns connected with the nativity, preserved 
in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke. 
The third group in the Old Testament includes 
the prophecies from Isaiah through Malachi. 
Close corre- One book in this group, Daniel, and portions 
betweenThe °^ Ezekiel and Joel, are analogous to the New 
Old Testa- Testament Apocalypse, but otherwise the pro- 

ment prophe- r J r r 

ties and the phetic books correspond closely in character 

New Testa- . 

mentapoca- and contents to the epistles ol the .New. Both 
epislleT are direct messages to contemporaries of the 
prophets and apostles, and both deal with then 
existing conditions. Both consist of practical 
warnings, exhortations, advice, and encourage- 
ment. The form is simply incidental. The 
prophets of Jehovah preached, and then they or 
their disciples wrote down the words which 
they had addressed to their countrymen. When 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 89 

they could not reach with their voices all in 
whom they were interested, the prophets, like 
the apostles, committed their teachings to writ- 
ing and sent them forth as tracts (cf. Jer. xxxvi.). 
At other times, when they could not go in per- 
son, they wrote letters. Thus, for example, the 
twenty-ninth chapter of the prophecy of Jere- 
miah opens with the interesting superscription : 

Now these are the words of the letter that 
Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem 
unto the residue of the elders of the captiv- 
ity, and to the priests, and to the prophets, 
and to all the people, whom Nebuchadrezzar 
had carried away captive from Jerusalem to 
Babylon; by the hand of Elasah the son of 
Shaphan, and Gemariah the son of Hilkiah, 
whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto 
Babylon to Nebuchadrezzar. 

If it were not for this superscription, no one 
would suspect from the nature of the letter 
which follows that it was anything other than 
a regular spoken or written prophecy. Its con- 
tents and spirit are exactly parallel to those of 
Paul's epistles. Undoubtedly many prophecies 
were never delivered orally, but were originally 
written like Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, 
and sent out as circular letters. The Baby- 



90 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Ionian exile scattered the Jews so widely that 
the exilic and post-exilic prophets depended 
almost entirely upon this method of reaching 
their countrymen and thus became writers of 
epistles. 
The oldest Like the Epistles in the New, certain of the 
poetry prophecies, — as, for example, those of Amos, 

Hosea, and Isaiah, — are among the earliest 
writings of the Old Testament. But in the 
light of modern biblical study, it has become 
apparent that prose was not the earliest form 
of expression among the Hebrews. In this re- 
spect their literary history is parallel with that 
of other early peoples ; for first they treasured 
their thought in heroic song and ballad. While 
they were nomads, wandering in the desert, and 
also while they were struggling for the posses- 
sion of Canaan, they had little time or motive 
for cultivating the literary art. The popular 
songs which were sung beside the camp-fires, 
at the recurring festivals, and as the Hebrews 
advanced in battle against their foes, were the 
earliest records of their past. There is evi- 
dence that many of the primitive narratives 
now found in the opening chapters of Genesis 
were also once current in poetical form. In 
some cases the poetic structure has been 
preserved. 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 91 

The earliest collections of writings referred Israel's 
to in the Old Testament bear the suggestive j^ song ~ 
titles, The Book of the Upright (i. <?., Israel), 
and, The Book of the Wars of Jehovah. From 
the quotations which we have from them it is 
clear that they consisted of collections of songs, 
recounting the exploits of Israel's heroes and the 
signal victories of the race. 

That stirring paean of victory known as the The Song of 
Song of Deborah was perhaps once found in 
the Book of the Wars of Jehovah. It is one 
of the oldest pieces of literature in the Old 
Testament, and breathes the heroic spirit of the 
primitive age from which it comes. Through 
the eyes of the poet one views the different 
scenes in the mighty conflict. 1 

That the leaders took the lead in Israel, Exordium 

That the people volunteered readily, 

Bless Jehovah ! 
Hear, O kings, 
Give ear, O rulers. 
I myself will sing to Jehovah, 
I will sing praise to Jehovah, the God of Israel. 

Jehovah, when thou wentest forth from Seir, Advent of 

When thou marchedst from the land of Edom, Jehovah 

The earth trembled, the heavens also dripped, 
Yea, the clouds dropped water. 

1 The translation is from " The Student's Old Testa- 
ment," Vol. I., pp. 320-323. 



92 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

The mountains quaked before Jehovah, 
Yon Sinai before Jehovah, the God of Israel. 



Conditions 
before the 
war 



In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath, 

In the days of Jael, the highways ceased to be used, 

And travellers walked by round-about paths. 

The rulers ceased in Israel, they ceased, 

Until thou didst arise, Deborah, 

Until thou didst arise a mother in Israel. 



The rally 
about Deb~ 
orah and 
Barak 



Then the people of Jehovah went down to the gates, 

crying, 
" Arise, arise, Deborah, 
Arise, arise, strike up the song ! 
Arise Barak, and take thy captives, thou son of Abi- 

noam! " 
So a remnant went down against the powerful, 
The people of Jehovah went down against the mighty. 
From Ephraim they rushed forth into the valley, 
Thy brother Benjamin among thy peoples, 
From Machir went down commanders, 
And from Zebulun those who carry the marshal's staff. 
And the princes of Issachar were with Deborah ; 
And Napthali was even so with Barak, 
Into the valley they rushed forth at his back. 



The cowards By the brooks of Reuben great were the resolves ! 



who re- 
mained at 
home 



Why didst thou sit among the sheepfolds, 

Listening to the pipings for the flocks ? 

By the brooks of Reuben there were great questionings I 

Gilead remained beyond the Jordan ; 

And Dan, why does he stay by the ships as an alien? 

Asher sits still by the shore of the sea, 

And remains by its landings. 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 93 

Zebulun was a people who exposed their lives to deadly The battle 
■qqyH and defeat 

And Napthali on the heights of the open field. 'Canaanites 

Bless Jehovah ! 
Kings came, they fought ; 
Then fought the kings of Canaan, 
At Taanach by the waters of Megiddo ; 
They took no booty of silver. 
From heaven fought the stars, 
From their courses fought against Sisera. 
The river Kishon swept them away, 
The ancient river, the river Kishon. 
O my soul, march on with strength ! 
Then did the horse-hoofs resound 
With the galloping, galloping of the powerful steeds. 



In the Boole of the Upright is included that David's 
touching elegy which David sang after the Sautand 
death of Saul and Jonathan, and which stands Jonathan 
next to the Song of Deborah as one of the 
earliest surviving examples of Old Testament 
literature. 1 



calamity 



Weep, O Judah ! The great- 

Grieve, O Israel ! ????J?&? e 

On thy heights are the slain ! 
How have the mighty fallen ! 

Tell it not in Gath, 

Declare it not in the streets of Askelon ; 
Lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, 
Lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. 



1 <( 



Student's Old Testament," Vol. II., pp. 113, 114. 



ness of the 
fallen 



94 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Ye mountains of Gilboa, may no dew descend, 
Nor rain upon you, O ye fields of death ! 
For there was the shield of the mighty cast away, 
The shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. 

Bravery and From the blood of the slain, 
ati l act ™{- From the fat of the mighty, 

The bow of Jonathan turned not back, 

The sword of Saul returned not empty. 

Saul and Jonathan, the beloved and the lovely I 
In life and in death they were not parted ; 
They were swifter than eagles, 
They were stronger than lions. 

Saul's ser- Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, 

vices to Who clothed you daintily in fine linen, 

Who put golden ornaments on your garments, [and say :] 
" How have the mighty fallen in the midst of battle ! " 



David's love Jonathan, in thy death hast thou wounded me ! 

for Jona- j am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan ! 
than _, . , , 

Thou wert surpassingly dear to me, 

Thy love to me was far more than the love of woman ! 

How have the mighty fallen, 
And the weapons of war perished ! 

The blessing The so-called Blessing of Jacob (Gen. xlix. 
2-27) is a poetical delineation of the strength 
and weakness of the different tribes of Israel 
with references to specific events in their his- 
tory. These historical allusions suggest that 
it probably comes from the reigns of David 
and Solomon, when the tribes were for the 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 95 

first time all united under a common rule and 
had passed through certain of the experiences 
alluded to in the poem. 

The Israelitish race was supremely rich in Israel's heri- 

, . , tage of oral 

possessing not only many ancient songs, but traditions 
also a large body of oral traditions which had 
long been handed down from father to son or 
else treasured by the story-tellers and by the 
priests of the ancient sanctuaries. Many of 
these traditions were inherited from their Se- 
mitic ancestors, and, in the light of recently 
discovered Babylonian literature, can be traced 
back far beyond the days of Abraham and 
Moses. Some were originally the possessions 
of certain nomadic tribes ; others recorded the 
early experiences of their ancestors or told of 
the achievements of early heroes. , In the proc- 
ess of continuous retelling, all unnecessary de- 
tails had been eliminated and the really dramatic 
and essential elements emphasized, until they at- 
tained their present simple, graphic form, which 
fascinates young and old alike. 

The superlative value of these varied tradi- Value of 
tions is apparent. They were the links which Editions 
bound later generations to their prehistoric 
past. Incidentally, in the characteristic lan- 
guage of Semitic tradition, they preserved the 
memory of many important events in their 



96 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Influences 
that led to 
the writing 
of history 



early tribal history. They are also the illu- 
minating record of the primitive beliefs, cus- 
toms, and aspirations of their Semitic ancestors. 
Subject as they inevitably were to the idealizing 
tendency, they became in time the concrete em- 
bodiment of the noblest ideals of later genera- 
tions. Thus they presented before the kindled 
imagination of each succeeding age, in the char- 
acter and achievements of their traditional an- 
cestors, those ideals of courage, perseverance, 
and piety which contributed much toward 
making the Israelites the chosen people that 
they were. 

In time this growing heritage of traditions 
became too great for even the remarkable 
Oriental memory to retain. Meantime the 
Hebrews had also acquired that system of 
writing which they learned from their more 
civilized neighbors the Canaanites and Phoe- 
nicians. From the days of Solomon, scribes 
were to be found in court and temple, and 
probably among the prophetic guilds ; although 
the common people, as in the same land to-day, 
doubtless had little knowledge of the literary 
art. While the nation was struggling for the 
soil of Canaan, or enjoying the full tide of 
victory and achievement that came under the 
leadership of David, there was no time or in- 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 97 

centive to write history. But with the quieter 
days of Solomon's reign, and the contrasting 
period of national decline that followed his 
death, the incentive to take up the pen and 
record the departed glories became strong. 
With a large body of definite oral traditions 
dealing with all the important men and events 
of the earlier periods, the task of the histo- 
rian was chiefly that of writing down and co- 
ordinating what was already at hand. 

The oldest Hebrew history that has been pre- The early 
served in the Old Testament was the work of an p h e tichis- °~ 
unknown Judean prophet or group of prophets tor v 
who lived and labored probably during the 
latter part of the ninth century before Christ. 
This history corresponds closely in relative age 
and aim to Mark's graphic narrative of the 
chief facts in the life of Jesus. The motive 
which influenced the earliest historians both of 
the Old and New Testaments to write was pri- 
marily the religious significance of the events 
which they thus recorded. This early Judean 
prophetic history (technically known as J) be- 
gins with the account of the creation of man 
from the dust by the hand of Jehovah, and tells 
of the first sin and its dire consequences (Gen. 
ii. 4 to iii. 24) ; then it gives an ancient list of 
those who stood as the fathers of nomads, of 
7 



98 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

musicians and workers in metal (Gen. iv. 1, 
16b -26). This is followed by the primitive 
stories of the sons of God and the daughters of 
men (Gen. vi. 1-4), of Noah the first vineyard- 
keeper (ix. 20 - 27), and of the tower of Babel 
and the origin of different languages (xi. 1-9). 
In a series of more or less closely connected 
narratives the character and experiences of the 
patriarchs, the life of the Hebrews in Egypt and 
the wilderness, and the settlement in Canaan are 
presented. Its basis for the history of the united 
kingdom was for the most part the wonderfully 
graphic group of Saul and David stories which 
occupy the bulk of the books of Samuel. Thus 
this remarkable early Judean prophetic history 
begins with the creation of the universe and 
man and concludes with the creation of the 
Hebrew empire. 
Its unity and In its present Old Testament form it has 
tics™ Cm heen closely combined with other histories, just 
as Mark's narrative is largely reproduced in 
Matthew and Luke ; but when it is separated 
from the later narratives its unity and complete- 
ness are astounding. Almost without a break 
it presents the chief characters and events of 
Israel's history in their relations to each other. 
The same peculiar vocabulary, the use of 
Jehovah as the designation of the Deity, the 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 99 

same vivid, flowing narrative style, the same 
simple, naive, primitive conception of Jehovah, 
the same patriotic interest in the history of the 
race, and the same emphasis upon the vital reli- 
gious significance of men and facts, characterize 
every section of this narrative and make com- 
paratively easy the task of separating it from the 
other histories with which it has been joined. 

A little later, sometime about the middle of the The early 
eighth century before Christ, a prophet or group pfophetk * 
of prophets in Northern Israel devoted them- A * sfor ^ 
selves to the similar task of writing the history 
of Israel from the point of view of the northern 
kingdom. Since this state is called Ephraim 
by Hosea and other writers of the North, its 
history may be designated as the early Ephraim- 
ite prophetic (technically known as E). Nat- 
urally its author or authors utilized as the basis 
of their work the oral traditions current in the 
North. Sometimes these are closely parallel, 
and sometimes they vary widely in order and 
representation from the Judean versions. In 
general the variations are similar, although some- 
what greater than those between the parallel 
narratives of Matthew and Luke. 

Marked peculiarities in vocabulary and literary its ckarac- 
style distinguish this northern history from the terutlcs 
Judean. Since Elohim or God is consistently 

LOFC, 



100 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

used to describe the Deity, it has sometimes 
been called the Elohistic history. Interest in- 
clines to the sanctuaries and heroes and events 
prominent in the life of the North. In that 
land which produced a Samuel, an Elijah, an 
Elisha, and an Hosea, it was natural that espe- 
cial emphasis should be placed on the r61e of 
the prophet. Throughout these narratives he 
is portrayed as the dominant figure, moulding 
the history as God's representative. Abraham 
and Moses are here conceived of as prophets, 
and the Ephraimite history of their age is 
largely devoted to a portrayal of their prophetic 
activity. 
Its scope The interests of later editors who combined 

these early prophetic histories, as we now find 
them in the Old Testament, were centred in the 
Judean, and hence they have introduced cita- 
tions from the Ephraimite narratives chiefly to 
supplement the older history. Possibly it never 
was as complete as that of the South. At 
present it begins with Abraham and traces the 
parallel history of the patriarchs and the life of 
the Hebrews in Egypt and the wilderness. Its 
account of the conquest, is somewhat fuller, 
probably because Joshua was a northern leader. 
It also preserves many of the stories of the 
heroes in the book of Judges. With these the 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 101 

citations from the early Ephraimite prophetic 
history seem to disappear, but the opening stories 
in the book of Samuel, regarding the great 
prophet whose name was given to the book, 
apparently come from the pen of later disciples 
of this same Ephraimite group of prophets. 

The eighth and seventh centuries before Christ Later edito- 

. . . . rial supple- 

were periods of intense prophetic activity both m meriting and 
the North and the South. It was natural, there- l/aTtwo 
fore, that these early prophetic histories should ' llstories 
be supplemented by the disciples of the original 
historians. Traditions that possessed a perma- 
nent historical or religious value, as, for exam- 
ple, the familiar story of Cain and Abel (Gen. 
iv. 2-16), and the earlier of the two accounts 
of the flood, were thus added. Also when in 
722 b. c. the northern kingdom fell and its 
literary heritage passed to Judah, it was most 
natural that a prophetic editor, recognizing the 
valuable elements in each, and the difficulties 
presented by the existence of the two variant 
versions of the same events, should combine the 
two, and furthermore that, in the days of few 
manuscripts, the older originals should be lost 
and only the combined history survive. To-day 
we find this in turn incorporated in the still 
later composite history extending from Genesis 
through Samuel, 



102 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Method of 
combining 



' 



Practical 
value of the 
rediscovery 
of the orig- 
inal his- 
tories 



The later editor's method of uniting his 
sources is exceedingly interesting, and is an- 
alogous in many ways to the methods followed 
in the citations in Matthew and Luke from 
their common sources, the original Mark and 
Matthew's Sayings of Jesus, Where the two 
versions were closely parallel, as in the account 
of Jacob's deception of his father Isaac, or the 
story of the spies, the two are completely amal- 
gamated; short passages, verses, and parts of 
verses are taken in turn from each. In other 
cases the editor introduced the different versions 
— as, for example, the two accounts of the flight 
of Hagar — into different settings. From sub- 
sequent allusions to two versions, of which only 
one survives in the Old Testament, it is to be 
inferred that sometimes he simply preserved the 
fuller, usually the Judean. As a rule, however, 
there is clear evidence that he made every effort 
to retain all that he found in his original 
sources, even though the resulting composite 
narrative contained many inconsistencies. 

To the careful student, seeking to recover 
the original narratives in their primal unity, 
these inconsistencies are guides as valuable as 
the fossils and stratification of the earth are to 
the geologist intent upoa tracing the earth's past 
history. Guided by these variations and the 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 103 

distinctive peculiarities in vocabulary, literary 
style, point of view, religious conceptions, and 
purpose of each of the groups of narratives, Old 
Testament scholars have rediscovered these two 
original histories ; and with their recovery the 
great majority of seeming inconsistencies and 
many perplexing problems fade into insignifi- 
cance. Supplementing each other, as do the 
earliest Gospels, these two independent histories 
present with new definiteness and authority the 
essential facts in Israel's early political, social 
and religious life. Like eye-witnesses, they 
testify to the still more significant fact that 
from the first God was revealing his character 
and will through a unique race. 

A third survey of the period beginning with The brief 
the sojourn in Egypt and concluding with the phet?™' 
conquest of the east-Jordan land is found in hlstor y 
the introduction to the book of Deuteronomy. 
It is the prologue to the laws that follow, ap- 
propriately and effectively placed in the mouth 
of the pioneer prophet Moses. A comparison 
quickly demonstrates that it is in reality a brief 
summary of the older histories, and especially 
of the early Ephraimite prophetic. Like the 
Gospel of Matthew, its aim is not merely to 
present historical facts, but to illustrate and 
establish a thesis. The thesis is that Jehovah 



104 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

has personally led his people, and that when 
they have been faithful to him they have pros- 
pered, but when they have disobeyed calamity 
has overtaken them. The message is distinctly 
prophetic ; and to distinguish this third history, 
which was probably written near the close of the 
seventh century before Christ, from the earlier, 
it may be designated as the late prophetic or 
Deuteronomic history (technically represented 
by D). 
Comparison These three prophetic histories correspond 
with the New strikingly to the three synoptic Gospels: Mark, 
Testament L u k e and Matthew. The essential differences 

histories 1 

in their literary history are that they come, 
not from a single limited group of writers 
and a brief quarter century, but represent the 
work of many hands and at least two hundred 
and fifty years of literary activity. Two, at 
least, of these histories, are no longer extant in 
their original form, but only as they have been 
quoted verbatim by later historians and closely 
amalgamated. Similiarly, as is well known, 
Tatian, the pupil of Justin Martyr, in the 
middle of the second Christian century, did for 
the four Gospels precisely what an Old Testa- 
ment editor did for the two early prophetic 
histories, — he combined them into one com- 
posite, continuous narrative. By joining pas- 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 105 

sages and verses and parts of verses taken 
from the different Gospels, by omitting verbal 
duplicates, by rearranging in some cases and 
by occasionally adding a word or phrase to join 
dissimilar parts, Tatian produced a marvellous 
mosaic gospel, known as the Diatessaron. All of 
the Fourth Gospel is thus preserved, and most 
of the first three. So successfully was the work 
done that the volume was widely used through- 
out the Eastern Church. If, as once seemed 
possible, it had completely supplanted the origi- 
nal four Gospels, the literary history of these 
would have been a repetition of that of the 
earliest Old Testament records. 

It is very important to note that the motive The dom- 

i • -i 1 j ji r i» i_« j • i 'ij inant motive 

which led the prophetic historians to commit to y^ e 
writing the earlier traditions of their race was ?-*Xj-!? c 
not primarily historical. Like the author of 
the Fourth Gospel, they selected their material 
chiefly with a view to enforcing certain im- 
portant religious truths. If an ancient Semitic 
tradition illustrated their point, they divested 
it of its heathen clothing and, irrespective of its 
origin, pressed it into service. For example, 
it seems clear that the elements which enter 
into the story of the Garden of Eden and man's 
fall were current, with variations, among the 
ancient Babylonians centuries before the He- 



106 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

brews inherited them from their Semitic ances- 
tors. The early prophet who wrote the second 
and third chapters of Genesis appreciated their 
value as illustrations, and made them the me- 
dium for imparting some of the most impor- 
tant spiritual truths ever conveyed to mankind. 
Like the preachers or moral teachers of to-day, 
the first question the prophets asked about a 
popular story was not, Is it absolutely historical 
or scientifically exact? but, Does it illustrate 
the vital point to be impressed ? Undoubtedly 
Israel's heritage of oral traditions was far 
greater than is suggested by the narratives of 
the Old Testament ; but only those which in- 
dividually and collectively enforced some im- 
portant religious truth were utilized. Just as 
Jesus drew his illustrations from nature and 
human life about him, so these earlier spiritual 
teachers, with equal tact, took their illustra- 
tions from the familiar atmosphere of song and 
story and national tradition in which their 
readers lived. A secondary purpose, which 
they obviously had in view, was also to re- 
move from certain of the popular tales the 
immoral implications which still clung to them 
from their heathen past, and to reconsecrate 
them to a diviner end. 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 107 

Questions of relative date and historical ac- The perma- 
curacy concern the historian, but they should jj^/ Value 
not obscure the greater value of these narra- °f these . 

o narratives 

tives. To the majority of us, who turn to the 
Old Testament simply as the record of divine 
revelation and as a guide to life,\the essential 
thing is to put ourselves into touch with these 
ancient prophets, who taught by illustration as 
well as by direct address, and ask, What was 
the ethical or spiritual truth that illumined 
their souls and finds concrete expression and 
illustration through these primitive stories? 
To discuss the literal historicity of the story of 
the Garden of Eden is as absurd as to seek to 
discover who was the sower who went forth to sow 
or the Samaritan who went down to Jericho. } 
Even if no member of the despised Samaritan 
race ever followed in the footsteps of an hypo- 
critical Levite along the rocky road to Jericho 
and succored a needy human being, the vital 
truth abides. Not until we cease to focus our 
gaze on the comparatively unimportant, can we 
discern the great spiritual messages of these 
early narratives. 

r"The sequel to the great prophetic histories The sequel 
which underlie the Old Testament books, from prophetic y 
Genesis through Samuel, is in the books of hlstones 



108 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Kings. These carry the record of Israel's life 
down to the Babylonian exile/ The opening 
chapters of First Kings contain the conclusion 
of the Judean prophetic David stories. Fortu- 
nately the rest of the biblical history to the exile 
was largely compiled from much earlier sources. 
As in most of the historical writings, the later 
editors, also, quoted verbatim from these earlier 
records and histories, so that in many cases we 
have the testimony of almost contemporary wit- 
nesses. The titles of certain of these earlier 
books are given : The Booh of the Acts of Solo- 
mon, The Chronicles of the Kings of Israel, and 
The Chronicles of the Kings of Judah. 
Earlier A careful study of the books of Kings sug- 

quotedby gests many other ancient sources. For the 
l ofKinql reign of Solomon, state annals, temple records, 
and popular Solomon traditions appear to have 
been utilized. The graphic account of the divi- 
sion of the Hebrew empire was probably drawn 
from an early Jeroboam history. In the latter 
part of First Kings appear citations from an 
early Ahab history and a group of Ephraimite 
Elijah stories. The political data throughout 
First and Second Kings were probably drawn 
from the annals of the northern and southern 
kingdoms. Furthermore, in II Kings ii.-viii. 



The Old Testament Prophetic Histories 109 

appear long quotations from two cycles of Elisha 
stories, centring, respectively, about the ancient 
northern sanctuary of Gilgal, near Shiloh, and 
about Samaria. The rest of the book includes 
citations from sources which may be desig- 
nated as a prophetic Jehu history, temple rec- 
ords, a Hezekiah history, and a group of Isaiah 
stories. 

These valuable quotations the late prophetic Influences 
editor of Kings has arranged in chronological duced this 
order and fitted into a framework which gives phetic™ 
the length of each reign and the date of acces- hlstor y 
sion of the different kings, according to the 
chronology of the other Hebrew kingdom. To 
this data he adds a personal judgment upon the 
policy of each ruler, thereby revealing his pro- 
phetic spirit. History is to him, as to every true 
prophet, a supreme illustration of fundamental 
spiritual principles. Clearly the influence that 
led him to compile and edit his great work was 
his recognition of the fact that the record of 
Israel's national experience as a whole was of 
deep religious import. The same motive un- 
doubtedly guided him in the selection of material 
from his great variety of sources. Only that 
which was essential was presented. Thus he, or 
a later editor of his book, traced Israel's remark- 



110 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

able history down to the middle of the Baby- 
lonian exile (560 b. c), and completed that 
wonderful chain of prophetic narratives which 
record and interpret the first great chapter of 
divine revelation through the chosen race. 



VII 

THE HISTORY OF THE PROPHETIC 

SERMONS, EPISTLES, AND 

APOCALYPSES 



VII 

THE HISTORY OF THE PROPHETIC 

SERMONS, EPISTLES, AND 

APOCALYPSES 

To understand and rightly interpret the pro- Real char- 
phetic writings of the Old Testament it is nee- a ^ s ™ the 
essary to cast aside a false impression as to the P ro P hets 
character of the prophets which is widely preva- 
lent. They were not foretellers, but forth- 
tellers. Instead of being vague dreamers, in 
imagination living far in the distant future, they 
were most emphatically men of their own times, 
enlightened and devoted patriots, social and 
ethical reformers, and spiritual teachers. Their 
characteristic note of conviction and authority 
was due to the fact that, on the one hand, they 
knew personally and distinctly the evils and 
needs of their nation, and that, on the other hand, 
their minds and hearts, ever open to receive 
the truth, were in vital touch with the Infinite. 
Thus, just as Aaron became Moses' prophet to 
the people, publicly proclaiming what the great 
leader imparted to him in private (Ex. vii. 1, 2), 
so the Hebrew prophets became Jehovah's her- 

8 



114 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Influences 
that led the 
prophets to 
write down 
their ser- 



alds and ambassadors, announcing by word and 
life and act the divine will. 

While the historians were perfecting their 
histories certain prophets also were beginning 
to commit their sermons to writing. The oldest 
recorded address in the Old Testament is prob- 
ably that of Amos at Bethel. His banishment 
from the northern kingdom under strict injunc- 
tion not to prophesy there (Am. vii. 10-17) may 
well explain why he resorted to writing to give 
currency to his prophetic message, though like 
Paul in later days, he undoubtedly regarded 
writing as an inferior substitute for the spoken 
word. Jeremiah appears to have preached 
twenty years before he dictated a line to his 
scribe Baruch, and then it was because he could 
not personally speak in the temple (xxxvi. 1-5). 
Sometimes complete sermons of the prophets are 
preserved, but more often we seem to have only 
extracts and epitomes. In some of the prophetic 
books, like that of Jeremiah, there are also popu- 
lar reports of a prophetic address, and narrative 
sections, telling of the prophet's experience. 
Evidences of editing are very apparent in the 
prophecies^ earlier prophecies. Sudden interruptions, and 
verses or clauses, in which appear ideas and 
literary style very different from that of the 
immediate context, indicate that many of the 



The editing 



Prophetic Sermons, Epistles, Apocalypses 115 

prophecies have been supplemented by later 
notes, some explanatory and some hortatory. 
Other longer passages are intended to adjust the 
earlier teaching to later conditions and beliefs and 
so to adapt them to universal human needs that 
they are not limited to the hour and occasion of 
their first delivery. Some of these passages come 
from the hands of disciples of the prophets and 
often contain valuable additional data; others 
are from later prophetic editors and scribes. A 
detailed comparison, for example, of the Hebrew 
and Greek versions of Jeremiah quickly discloses 
wide variations of words, verses, and even long 
passages, added in one or the other text by later 
hands. All these additions testify to the deep 
interest felt by later generations in the earlier 
writings, even before they were assigned a final 
place in the canon. It is one of the important 
tasks of biblical scholars to distinguish the 
original from the additions and thus determine 
what were the teachings of each prophet and 
what are the contributions of later generations. 

Many of the later additions possess a value The back- 
and authority entirely independent of that pos-^^AzW*. 
sessed by the prophet with whose writings they 
have been joined by their original authors or 
later editors. Thus the sublime chapters ap- 
pended to the original sermons of Isaiah contain 



116 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

some of the noblest teachings in the Old Testa- 
ment. The different themes and literary style ; 
the frequent references to the Babylonians, not 
as distant allies, as in the days of Isaiah the son 
of Amoz, but as the hated oppressors of the Jews; 
the evidence that the prophet's readers are not 
exiles far from Judah ; the many allusions to the 
conquests of Cyrus, — all these leave little doubt 
that chapters xl.-lv. were written in the latter 
part of the Babylonian or the first of the Persian 
period. Interpreted in the light of this back- 
ground, their thought and teachings become clear 
and luminous. Similarly, the varied evidence 
within the chapters themselves seems to indicate 
that Isaiah lvi.-lxvi. contain sermons directed to 
the struggling Jewish community in Palestine 
during the days following the rebuilding of the 
temple in 520 b. c. 
The order The prophetic sermons, epistles, and apoca- 
the prophetic typses fall naturally into five great groups. The 
books prophets of the Assyrian period were Amos and 

Hosea, who between 750 and 734 b. c. preached 
to Northern Israel ; also Isaiah and Micah, whose 
work lies between 740 and 680 b. c. Nahum's 
little prophecy, although much later, echoes the 
death-knell of the great Assyrian kingdom which 
for two or three centuries dominated south- 
western Asia. The prophets of Judah's decline 



Prophetic Sermons, Epistles, Apocalypses 117 

were Zephaniah (about 628 b. a), Jeremiah 
(628-590), and Habakkuk (609-605). To the 
same period belong Ezekiel's earlier sermons, 
delivered between 592 and 586, just before the 
final destruction of Jerusalem. The prophets of 
the Babylonian exile were Obadiah, whose origi- 
nal oracle belongs to its opening years; Eze- 
kiel (xxv.-xlviii.), who continued to preach until 
572 B.C., and the great prophet whose death- 
less messages ring through Isaiah xl.-lv. The 
prophets of the Persian period were Haggai 
and Zechariah, whose inspiring sermons kept 
alive the flagging zeal of those who rebuilt 
the second temple ; the authors of Isaiah lvi.- 
lxvi. ; the author of the little book of Malachi ; 
and Joel. To this list we may perhaps add 
the prophet who has given us that noble pro- 
test, found in the much misunderstood book 
of Jonah, against the narrow and intolerant 
attitude of later Judaism toward foreigners. 

With the exception of Ezekiel, Haggai, Zech- Growth of 
ariah, and Joel, all the prophecies which come andlpoca- 
from the centuries following the fall of Jeru- l P tic literar 
salem in 586 b. c. are anonymous. The worship 
of the authority of the past had begun, and there 
is evidence that the belief was gaining currency 
that the days of the prophets were past. Hence 
the natural tendency to resort to anonymous au- 



118 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

thorship or else to append a later message to an 
earlier prophecy. Chapters ix.-xiv. of the book 
of Zechariah illustrate this custom, — chapters 
which apparently come from the last Old Testa- 
ment period, the Greek or Maccabean. The 
habit of presenting prophetic truth in the highly 
figurative, symbolic form of the apocalypse also 
became prominent in later Judaism. This has 
already been noted in the study of the growth 
of the New Testament, and is illustrated by the 
book of Revelation. It was especially adapted 
to periods of religious persecution, for it enabled 
the prophet to convey his message of encourage- 
ment and consolation in language impressive 
and clear to his people, yet unintelligible to 
their foreign masters. 
The histor- To the mind of one who has carefully studied 
Pound^f the book of Daniel in the light of the great 

the book of cr i g i s that came to the Jews as a result of the 
Darnel 

relentless persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes, 

between the years 169 and 165 B. c, there re- 
mains little doubt that it is in this period the 
wonderful apocalypse finds its true setting and 
interpretation. The familiar examples of the 
heroic fidelity of Daniel and his friends to the 
demands of their religion and ritual were su- 
premely well adapted to arouse a similar resist- 
ance toward the demands of a tyrant who was 



Prophetic Sermons, Epistles, Apocalypses 119 

attempting to stamp out the Jewish religion 
and transform the chosen people into a race of 
apostates. The visions found in the book trace 
rapidly, in succession, the history of the Baby- 
lonian, Median, Persian, and, last of all, the 
Greek kingdoms. The culmination is a minute 
description of the character and reign of the 
tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes (xi. 21-45). He 
is clearly the little horn of chapter viii. But 
suddenly, in the midst of the account of the 
persecutions, the descriptions become vague and 
general. Nor is there any reference to the suc- 
cess of the Maccabean uprising; instead, the 
prediction is made that Jehovah himself will 
soon come to establish his Messiah's kingdom. 

The inference is, therefore, that the prophecy Date of 

■• , , , ,. • the book 

was written a short time before the rededication 
of the temple in 165 B. c. This conclusion is 
confirmed by many other indications. For ex- 
ample the language, in part Aramaic, is that 
of the Greek period. The mistakes regarding 
the final overthrow of the Babylonian empire, 
which was by Cyrus, not Darius, and brought 
about not by strategy, but as a result of the 
voluntary submission of the Babylonians, are 
identical with the errors current in Greek tra- 
dition of the same late period. Here, as in the 
early narratives of Genesis, a true prophet has 



120 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

utilized earlier stories as effective illustrations. 
He has also given in the common apocalyptic 
form an interpretation of the preceding four 
centuries of human history, and showed how 
through it all God's purpose was being realized. 
The book concludes with the firm assurance 
that those who now prove faithful are to be 
richly rewarded and to have a part in his 
coming Messianic kingdom. 
The common Thus, from the minds of the prophets come 
atingthe the earliest writings of the Old Testament. 
ae P authors They consist of exhortations, warnings, messages 
of the New £ encouragement, or else stories intended to 
illustrate a religious principle or to present, in 
concrete form, a prophetic ideal. The funda- 
mental motive which produced them all was 
identical with that which led the disciples and 
apostles to write the Gospels and Epistles of 
the New. In the case of the historico-prophetic 
writings, like Samuel and Kings, the desire to 
inspire and mould the minds and wills of their 
readers was combined with the desire to pre- 
serve in permanent form a record of the events 
which, in their national history, revealed most 
clearly Jehovah's character and purpose. In 
this respect they correspond perfectly to the 
Gospels and Acts of the New Testament. It 
is easy to see, therefore, that kindred aims and 



Prophetic Sermons, Epistles, Apocalypses 121 

ideals actuated these unknown prophetic writers 
and their later successors, Matthew, Mark, and 
Luke. Their literary products differ only be- 
cause their subject-matter is different. The one 
group records Jehovah's revelation of himself 
through the life of the Messianic nation, the 
other through the life of the perfect Messiah. 

It is interesting to note, in conclusion, that The New 
from the point of view of the Old, all the Jh'Teqmi of 
literature of the New may be designated as pro- the P ro P h e tlc 

J ° * writings 

phetic. The three distinct groups of writings 
found in the New, namely, the Gospels and Acts, 
the Epistles, and the Apocalypse, correspond 
exactly to the three types of prophetic litera- 
ture found in the Old : the historico-prophetical 
writings, direct written prophecies, and apoca- 
lypses. If the final canon of the Old Testa- 
ment had been completed before the days of 
Josiah, there is every reason to believe that it 
also would have contained little beside pro- 
phetic writings. In divine providence it was 
not closed until seven centuries later, so that, 
as it has come to us, it is a comprehensive 
library, representing every stage and every 
side of Israel's development. It is, however, 
in perfect keeping with the spirit of the Master 
that the New Testament should contain sig- 
nificant facts and broad principles rather than 



122 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

detailed laws or even the songs of worship. 
He whose ideals, teachings, and methods were 
in closest harmony with those of the Hebrew 
prophets, naturally begat, through his immedi- 
ate followers, a group of distinctively prophetic 
writings. 



VIII 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
EARLIER OLD TESTAMENT LAWS 



VIII 

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
EARLIER OLD TESTAMENT LAWS 

If the canon of the New Testament had First the 
remained open as long as did that of the Old, Jnd then the 
there is little doubt that it also would have con- f^ s 
tained many laws, legal precedents, and eccle- 
siastical histories. From the writings of the 
Church Fathers and the records of the Catholic 
Church it is possible to conjecture what these in 
general would have been. The early history of 
Christianity illustrates the universal fact that 
the broad principles are first enunciated by a 
great prophetic leader or leaders, and that in suc- 
ceeding centuries these new principles are gradu- 
ally embodied in detailed laws and ceremonials. 
Also the principles must be accepted, partially 
at least, by the majority of the people before 
the enactments based upon them can be en- 
forced. This important fact, stated in Old 
Testament terms, is that the prophet must and 
always does precede the lawgiver. 



126 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 
Meaning of Torah, the common Hebrew word for law, 

the Hebrew . T . 

word for comes from a Hebrew word meaning to point 
out or direct. It is probably also connected with 
the older root signifying, to cast the sacred lot. 
The torah, therefore, was originally the decision, 
rendered in connection with specific questions 
of dispute, and referred to Jehovah by means 
of the sacred lot. Thus the early priests were 
also judges because they were the custodians 
of the divine oracle. 
Origin of Here we are able to trace, in its earliest He- 
beliefin the brew form, the universal belief in the divine 

tflaw ° Tigin ori g in of the law - In the primitive laws of 
Exodus xxi.-xxiii., in connection with a case 
of disputed responsibility for injury to prop- 
erty, the command is given : the cause of both 
parties shall come before Grod ; he whom God 
shall condemn shall pay double to his neighbor 
(xxii. 8, 9). In ancient times all cases of dispute 
were thus laid before God and decided by the lot 
or by God's representatives, usually the priests. 
When, in time, customs and oral laws grew up 
on the basis of these decisions, a similar divine 
origin and authority were naturally attributed 
to them. Individually and collectively they 
were designated by the same suggestive term, 
torah. When they were ultimately commit- 
ted to writing, the legal literature bore this 



Development of Old Testament Laws 127 

title. In the Hebrew text it still remains as 
the designation of the first group of Old Testa- 
ment books which contain the bulk of Israel's 
laws. 

A belief in the divine origin of law was its ultimate 
held by most ancient peoples. In connection asism J at 
with the tablet which records the laws of Ham- 
murabi, we have a picture of Shamash the sun- 
god giving the laws to the king. In the epilogue 
to these laws he states that by the command of 
Shamash, the judge supreme of heaven and earth, 
he has set them up that judgment may shine 
in the land. The statements in the Old Testa- 
ment that Jehovah talked face to face with 
Moses or wrote the ten words with his finger 
on tablets of stone reflect the primitive belief 
which pictured God as a man with hands and 
voice and physical body ; still they are the early 
concrete statement of a vital, eternal truth. 
Not on perishable stone, but in the minds of 
the ancient judges, and in the developing ethical 
consciousness of the Israeli tish race, he inscribed 
the principles of which the laws are the practical 
expression. If he had not revealed them, there 
would have been no progress in the knowledge 
of justice and mercy. The thesis of the Old 
Testament, and of Hammurabi also, is funda- 
mentally true. The vivid forms in which both 



128 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

expressed that thesis were admirably fitted to 
impress it upon the mind of early man. 
Method in The early Israelitish theory of the origin of 
Hebrew law law provided fully for expansion and develop- 
grew ment to meet the new and changed conditions 

of later periods. Whenever a new question pre- 
sented itself, it could be referred to Jehovah's 
representatives, the priests and prophets; and 
their torah, or response, would forthwith become 
the basis for the new law. Malachi ii. 6, 7 clearly 
defines this significant element in the growth of 
Israel's legal codes : the torah of truth was in the 
mouth of the priest . . . and the people should 
seek the torah at his mouth. Similarly Haggai 
commands the people to ask a torah from the 
priests in regard to a certain question of cere- 
monial cleanliness (ii. 11). Until a very late 
period in Israelitish history, the belief was uni- 
versal that Jehovah was ever giving new deci- 
sions and laws through his priests and prophets, 
and therefore that the law itself was constantly 
being expanded and developed. This belief is 
in perfect accord with all historical analogies and 
with the testimony of the Old Testament his- 
tories and laws themselves. Not until the days 
of the latest editors did the tendency to project 
the Old Testament laws back to the beginning 
of Israel's history gain the ascendency and leave 



Development of Old Testament Laws 129 

its impression upon the Pentateuch. Even then 
there was no thought of attributing the lit- 
erary authorship of all of these laws to Moses. 
This was the work of still later Jewish tra- 
dition. 

The earliest Old Testament narratives indicate Moses' rela- 
clearly the real historical basis of the familiar israelitish 
later tradition, and vindicate and help us in the aw 
effort to define the title, Law of Moses. The 
early Ephraimite narratives describe Moses as 
a prophet rather than as a mere lawgiver. In 
Exodus xviii. they give us a vivid picture of 
his activity as judge. To him the people 
came in crowds, with their cases, to inquire of 
God (15). In 16, to his father-in-law Jethro, 
he states: whenever they have a matter of dis- 
pute they come to me, that I may decide which of 
the two is right, and make known the statutes 
of God and his decisions (tordtK). Jethro then 
advises him to appoint reliable men, gifted with 
a high sense of justice, to decide minor cases, 
while he reserves for himself the difficult ques- 
tions involving new principles. The origin and 
theory of Israel's early laws are vividly pre- 
sented in Jethro's words to Moses in verses 19, 
20 : You be the people's advocate with God, and 
bring the cases to God, and you make known to 
them the statutes and the decisions, and show 

9 



130 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

them the way wherein they must walk, and the 
work that they must do. 
Historical It appears from these and other passages that 
\raditwnof Moses' traditional title as the father of Israelitish 
a^uttorlhi l e g islation is wel1 established. As a prophet, he 
proclaimed certain fundamental principles that 
became the basis of all later codes. As a judge, 
he rendered decisions that soon grew into cus- 
tomary laws. As a leader and organizer, he laid 
the foundations of the later political and institu- 
tional growth of the nation. Furthermore, it is 
probable that he taught the people certain sim- 
ple commands which became the nucleus of all 
later legislation. Naturally and properly, as 
oral laws subsequently grew up and were finally 
committed to writing, they were attributed to 
him. Later, when these laws were collected and 
codified, they were still designated as Mosaic, 
even though the authors of these codes added 
many contemporary enactments to the earlier 
laws. Thus the traditions, as well as the theory, 
of Israelitish law fortunately raised no barrier 
against its normal growth. It was not until the 
late Jewish period, when the tradition became 
rigid and unnatural, that the rabbis, in order to 
establish the authority of contemporary laws, 
were forced to resort to the grotesque legal 
fictions which appear in the Talmud. 



Development of Old Testament Laws 131 

The earliest Hebrew laws, like the traditions, Evidences 
were apparently long transmitted in oral form. i^ st i a e w e s ar ~ 
The simple life of the desert and early Canaan were oral 
required no written records. Custom and mem- 
ory preserved all the laws that were needed. 
Also, as we have seen, before the Hebrews came 
into contact with the Canaanites and Phoenicians, 
they do not seem to have developed the literary 
art. Instead, they cast their important com- 
mands and laws into the form of pentads and 
decalogues. The practical aim seems to have 
been to aid the memory by associating a brief 
law with each finger of the two hands. The 
system was both simple and effective. It also 
points clearly to a period of oral rather than 
written transmission. 

The nucleus of all Israelitish law appears to The earliest 
have been a simple decalogue, which gave the \a W T s ew 
terms of the original covenant between Jehovah 
and his people, and definitely stated the obliga- 
tions they must discharge if they would retain his 
favor. The oldest version of this decalogue is 
now embedded in the early Judean narrative of 
Exodus xxxiv. There is considerable evidence, 
however, that it once stood immediately after the 
Judean account of Jehovah's revelation of him- 
self at Sinai, and was transposed to its present 
position in order to give place for the later and 



132 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

nobler prophetic decalogue of Exodus xx. 1-17. 
Its antiquity and importance are also evidenced 
by the fact that it has received many later in- 
troductory, explanatory, and hortatory notes. 
Exodus xxxiv. 28 preserves the memory that it 
originally consisted of simply ten words. The 
slightly variant version of these original ten 
words is also found in Exodus xx. 23, xxiii. 12, 
15, 16, 18, 29, 30. Furthermore, it probably 
once occupied a central position in the corre- 
sponding Northern Israelitish account of the 
covenant at Sinai. 
The oldest With the aid of these two different versions, 

decalogue ^ q£ ^ ^^ ^ ^ Qf ^ g^^ ^ . g 

possible to restore approximately the common 
original : 

I. Thou shalt worship no other God. 
II. Thou shalt make no molten gods. 

III. Thou shalt observe the feast of un- 

leaven bread. 

IV. Every first-born is mine. 

, V. Six days shalt thou toil, but on the 

seventh thou shalt rest. 
VI. Thou shalt observe the feast of weeks 

and ingathering at the end of the 

year. 
VII. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my 

sacrifice with leaven. 



Development of Old Testament Laws 133 

VIII. The fat of my feast shall not be left 
until morning. 
IX. The best of the first-fruits of thy land 
shalt thou bring to the house of 
Jehovah. 
X. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in its 
mother's milk. 
These laws bear on their face the evidence Its date 
of their primitive date and origin. They define 
religion not in the terms of life, as does the 
familiar prophetic decalogue of Exodus xx., but, 
like the old Babylonian religion, in the terms 
of the ritual. Loyalty to Jehovah, as the God 
of the nation, and fidelity to the demands of the 
cult is their watchword. Their antiquity and 
the central position they occupy in Old Testa- 
ment legislation are shown further by the fact 
that all of them are again quoted in other codes, 
and most of them four or five times in the 
Old Testament. Three of them apply to agri- 
cultural life ; but agriculture is not entirely un- 
known to the nomadic life of the wilderness. 
Possibly in their present form certain of these 
commands have been adapted to conditions in 
Canaan, but the majority reflect the earliest 
stages in Hebrew history. In all probability 
the decalogue in its original form came from 
Moses, as the earliest traditions assert, although 



134 Origin and Value, of the Old Testament 

comparative Semitic religion demonstrates that 
many of the institutions here reflected long 
antedated the days of the great leader. 
TAgJudg- Although in part contemporary, the next 
Exodus xxi., stage in the development of Israelitish law is 
represented by the civil, social, and humane 
decalogues in Exodus xx. 23 to xxiii. 19. 
The best preserved group is found in xxi. 1 to 
xxii. 20, and bears the title Judgments, which 
recalls Hammurabi's title to his code, The Judg- 
ments of Righteousness. Like this great Baby- 
lonian code, the Hebrew Judgments deal with 
civil and social cases, and are usually introduced 
by the formula, If so and so, followed by the 
penalty or decision to be rendered. They are 
evidently intended primarily for the guidance 
of judges. The parallels with the code of 
Hammurabi are many, both in theme, form, 
and penalty, although there is no conclusive 
evidence that the Hebrew borrowed directly 
from the older Babylonian. Undoubtedly many 
of the striking points of resemblance are due 
simply to common Semitic ideas and institu- 
tions and to the recurrence of similar questions. 
But on the whole, the Hebrew laws place a 
higher estimate on life and less on property. 
They reflect also a simpler type of civilization 
than the Babylonian. 



Development of Old Testament Laws 135 

When three or four obviously later additions Their ar- 
have been removed, the Judgments are found to aTIcon- 1 
consist of five decalogues, each divided into two tents 
pentads which deal with different phases of the 
same general subject. They are as follows : 

First Decalogue : The Rights of Slaves, 

First Pentad : Males, Ex. xxi. 2, 3a, 3b, 4, 5-6. 
Second Pentad: Females, xxi. 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. 
Second Decalogue : Assaults. 
First Pentad : Capital Offences, xxi. 12, 13, 14, 

15, 16. 
Second Pentad : Minor Offences, xxi. 18-19, 20, 
21, 26, 27. 
Third Decalogue: Laws regarding Domestic Ani- 
mals. 
First Pentad : Injuries by Animals, xxi. 28, 29, 30, 
31, 32. 
Second Pentad : Injuries to Animals, xxi. 33-34, 
35, 36; xxii. 1, 4. 
Fourth Decalogue : Responsibility for Property. 
First Pentad : In General, xxii. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. 
Second Pentad: In Cattle, xxii. 10-11, 13, 14, 
15a, 15b. 
Fifth Decalogue : Social Purity. 

First Pentad : Adultery, Deut. xxii. 13-19, 20- 

21, 22, 23-24, 25-27. 
Second Pentad : Fornication and Apostasy, Ex. 
xxii. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. 

Many of these laws anticipate the settled Their date 
agricultural conditions of Palestine. Society, 



136 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

however, is very simple. The decalogue and 
pentad form also points clearly to an early 
period, when the laws were transmitted orally. 
Many of the laws probably came from the days 
of the wilderness wandering, and therefore go 
back to the age of Moses, in some cases much 
earlier, as is shown by close analogies with the 
code of Hammurabi. Although in their present 
written form these oral Judgments bear the 
marks of the Northern Israeli tish prophetic writ- 
ers who have preserved them, the majority, if 
not all, may with confidence be assigned to the 
days of David and Solomon. 
The early The remaining verses of Exodus xx. 23 to 

humane and 

ceremonial xxin. 19, contain groups of humane and cere- 
monial laws. In the process of transmission 
they have been somewhat disarranged, but, with 
the aid of the fuller duplicate versions in Deu- 
teronomy, four complete decalogues can be 
restored and part of a fifth. The following 
analysis will suggest their general character 
and contents: 

HUMANE AND CEREMONIAL LAWS 

First Decalogue : Kindness. 

First Pentad : Towards Men, Ex. xxii. 21a, 22- 

23, 25a, 25b, 26-27. 
Second Pentad: Towards Animals, Ex. xxiii. 4 



Development of Old Testament Laws 137 

[Deut. xxii. 1], Deut. xxii. 2, 3; Ex. xxiii. 5 

[Deut. xxii. 4], Deut. xxii. 6-7. 
Second Decalogue : Justice. 

First Pentad : Among Equals, Ex. xxiii. la, 

lb, 2a, 2b, 3. 
Second Pentad : On the Part of those in Author- 

ity, xxiii, 6, 7a, 7b, 7c, 8. 
Third Decalogue : Duties to God. 
First Pentad : Worship, Ex. xx. 23a, 23b, 24, 25, 

26. 
Second Pentad : Loyalty, Ex. xxii. 28, 29a, 29b, 

30, 31. 
Fourth Decalogue : Sacred Seasons. 

First Pentad: Command to Observe them, xxiii. 

10-11, 12, 15a, 16a, 16b. 
Second Pentad : Method of Observing them, 

xxiii, 17, 18a, 18b, 19a, 19b. 

Here the primitive ceremonial decalogue has Period rep- 
been expanded into the third and fourth group ^primitive 
given above. Like the Judgments, these deca- codes 
logues bear testimony to their northern origin, 
and probably they also have had much the same 
history, although their relation to the primitive 
decalogue and the fact that they are prefixed 
and added to the solid group of Judgments, 
would seem to indicate that they were some- 
what later. These two collections, together 
with their older prototype, the ancient deca- 
logue, represent the growth of Israel's laws 



138 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

during the four centuries beginning with Moses 
and extending to about 800 B. c. To distin- 
guish them from later collections they may be 
designated as the Primitive Codes. 
The need The eighth and seventh centuries before Christ 

S which brought to the Hebrews great crises and 
revolutionary changes in both their political and 
religious life, witnessed the epoch-making work 
of Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. This re- 
markable group of prophets proclaimed so many 
new principles that a fundamental revision and 
expansion of Israel's primitive codes became 
necessary in order to adapt the latter to the 
new needs of the age. The reactionary reign 
of Manasseh had also brought out plainly the 
contrast between the older heathen cults, still 
cherished by the people, and the exalted ideals 
of the true prophets. If the prophetic teach- 
ings were to become operative in the life of 
the nation, it was also seen that they must be 
expressed in concrete legal enactments, which 
could be universally understood and definitely 
enforced. 
Application Accordingly, a group of prophets, disciples of 
principles to the older masters, and inspired by the spirit of 
fhe mon£ reform, devoted themselves to this all-important 
task. The results of their work are represented 
by the prophetic law-book of Deuteronomy. 



Development of Old Testament Laivs 139 

Through its pages glow the new ethical teachings 
of the prophets of the Assyrian period. The ele- 
ments of Hosea's doctrine, love to God and love 
to men and kindness to the needy and oppressed, 
in their new setting and application, make it 
one of the evangels of the Old Testament. Its 
lofty standards of justice and social responsi- 
bility reflect the impassioned addresses of Amos 
and Hosea. Since the new laws, as a whole, 
represented the practical application of the mes- 
sages of the prophets to life, they were justly 
and appropriately placed in the mouth of Moses, 
the real and traditional head of the nation and 
of the prophetic order. 

A comparison of this prophetic law-book with Relation to 
the older primitive laws shows that the latter ^ts 
were made the basis of the new codes, since most 
of them, in revised form, are also found in Deu- 
teronomy. The prophetic lawmakers, however, 
in the same spirit that actuated Jesus in his 
attitude toward the ancient law, freely modified, 
supplemented, and in some cases substituted for 
the primitive enactments, laws that more per- 
fectly embodied the later revelation. 

The nature of the reforms instituted by Jo- Promulga- 
siah, according to II Kings xxii., clearly prove ^ ate y^ e 
that the laws which inspired them were those P ro P hetlc 
of Deuteronomy, and that this was the law-book 



140 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

discovered in the temple by Hilkiah the priest 
and publicly read and promulgated by the king 
in 621 b. c. Originally it was probably prepared 
by the prophetic reformers as a basis for their 
work ; but it incorporates not only most of the 
primitive codes, but also many other ancient 
laws and groups of laws, some doubtless coming 
from the earliest periods of Israel's history. It 
also appears to have been further supplemented 
after the reformation of Josiah. In general it 
represents the second great stage in Old Testa- 
ment law, as it rapidly developed between 800 
and 600 B.C. under the inspiring preaching of 
the remarkable prophets of the Assyrian period. 
Their his- These laws represent, in many ways, the 
permanent high-water mark of Old Testament legislation. 
Every effort is made to eliminate that which 
experience had proved to be imperfect in the 
older laws and customs. The chief aim is to 
protect the rights of the wronged and depend- 
ent. The appeal throughout is not to the fear 
of punishment — in a large number of laws no 
penalty is suggested — but to the individual 
conscience. Not merely formal worship is de- 
manded, but a love to God so personal that it 
dominates the individual heart and soul and finds 
expression through energies completely devoted 
to his service. These laws required strict justice, 



Development of Old Testament Laws 141 

but more than that, mercy and practical charity 
toward the weak and needy and afflicted. Even 
the toiling ox and the helpless mother-bird and 
her young are not beyond the kin of these 
wonderful laws. Under their benign influence 
the divine principles of the prophets began to 
mould directly the character and life of the 
Israelitish race. The man who lives in accord 
with their spirit and injunctions to-day finds 
himself on the straight and narrow way, hal- 
lowed by the feet of the Master. 



IX 



INFLUENCES THAT GAVE RISE TO 
THE PRIESTLY LAWS AND 
HISTORIES 



IX 

INFLUENCES THAT GAVE RISE TO 
THE PRIESTLY LAWS AND HIS- 
TORIES 

The Babylonian exile gave a great oppor- influences 
tunity and incentive to the further develop- Jjj^ * r e ? e 
ment of written law. While the temple stood, duc * d 

r ' written cere- 

the ceremonial rites and customs received con- monial laws 
stant illustration, and were transmitted directly 
from father to son in the priestly families. 
Hence, there was little need of writing them 
down. But when most of the priests were 
carried captive to Babylonia, as in 597 B. c, 
and ten years later the temple was laid in 
ruins and all sacrifice and ceremonial wor- 
ship suddenly ceased, written records at once 
became indispensable, if the customs and rules 
of Israel's ritual were to be preserved. The in- 
tegrity and future of the scattered Israelitish 
race also largely depended upon keeping alive 
their distinctive traditions. Torn from their 
altars, the exiled priests not only had a 
10 



146 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

strong incentive, but likewise the leisure, to 
write. The ritualistic zeal of their Babylonian 
masters doubtless further inspired them. The 
result was, that during the Babylonian exile 
and the following century most of the cere- 
monial laws in the Old Testament appear to 
have been first committed to writing. 
Ezekid's Even Ezekiel, the prophet of the early exile, 

yielded to the influence of his early priestly 
training and the needs of the situation. In 572 
he issued the unique code found in chapters 
xl.-xlviii. of his prophecy. It provides for the 
rebuilding of the temple, and defines the duties 
of its different officials and the form of ritual 
that is to be observed. The whole is intended 
primarily to emphasize, through the arrange- 
ment of the sanctuary and the forms of the cere- 
monial, the transcendent holiness of Jehovah. 
Ezekiel also proclaims, through this elaborate 
program for the restored community, the cer- 
tainty that the exiles would be allowed to 
return and rebuild the temple. He evidently 
reproduces many of the proportions and regula- 
tions of the first temple, but, with the same 
freedom that characterizes the authors of the 
Deuteronomic codes, he unhesitatingly sets 
aside earlier usages where something better has 
been revealed. 



The Priestly Laws and Histories 147 

Ezekiel's code was never fully adopted by the Genesis and 
later Jews, for much of it was symbolic rather ^ e Holiness 
than practical ; but it powerfully influenced sub- Code 
sequent lawmakers, and was indicative of the 
dominant tendency of the day. Even before he 
issued his code, some like-minded priest had col- 
lected and arranged an important group of laws, 
which appear to have been familiar to Ezekiel 
himself. They are found in Leviticus xvii.- 
xxvi., and have felicitously been designated as 
the Holiness Code, because they constantly empha- 
size the holiness of Jehovah and the necessity 
of the people's being holy in thought and act. 
In chapters xvii.-xix. most of the original laws 
are still arranged in the decalogue and pentad 
form. This strong evidence that they had been 
transmitted by word of mouth from a much 
earlier period is supported by their contents. 
They resemble and supplement the primitive 
laws of Exodus xx. 23 to xxiii. 19. Many of 
them probably came from the early periods 
of Israelitish history. Most of the laws, like 
those of the prophetic codes in Deuteronomy, 
are ethical and humane rather than ceremo- 
nial. The code, as a whole, is a remarkable 
combination of prophetic and priestly teach- 
ing. It marks the transition from the age of the 
prophets, represented by Deuteronomy, to that of 



148 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

the priests and ritual, represented by the priestly- 
codes proper. Like every important early col- 
lection of laws, it also has been much supple- 
mented by later editors; the original Holiness 
Code, however, may be given a date soon after 
the first captivity in 597 B. c. 
The priestly The influences represented by Ezekiel and 

codes 

the Holiness Code have given us the remaining 
laws of the Old Testament. These are found 
in Leviticus i.-xvi., xxviii., and, excepting 
Exodus xx.-xxiii., xxxiv., in the legal sec- 
tions of Exodus and Numbers. They deal 
almost entirely with such ceremonial subjects, 
as the forms and rules of sacrifice, the obser- 
vation of the annual religious festivals, and the 
rights and duties of priests. Many of them 
incorporated laws and customs as old or older 
than the days of Moses. An early and impor- 
tant group, technically known as the Priestly 
teaching (Lev. i.-iii., v.-vii., xi.-xv. ; Num. v., 
vi., xv., xix. 14-22), is repeatedly designated as 
the torah of the burnt-offering (Lev. vi. 9), or the 
tor ah of the meal-offering (vi. 14), or the torah of 
the unclean and clean beast or bird (xi. 46, 47). 
It is evidently based upon the toroth, or deci- 
sions, rendered by the priests concerning the 
various ceremonial questions thus treated. The 
recurring phrase, according to the ordinance, 



The Priestly Laws and Histories 149 

probably refers to the fixed usage observed in 
connection with the first temple. 

The atmosphere and point of view of these Their date 
priestly laws as a whole are the exilic and post- 
exilic periods. The ritual has become much 
more elaborate, the position of the priests much 
more prominent, and their income far greater 
than before the exile. The distinction between 
priest and Levite, which was not recognized 
before the exile, is clearly defined. The annual 
feasts have increased, and their old joyous char- 
acter has largely disappeared under the dark 
shadow of the exile. Sin-offerings, guilt-offer- 
ings, trespass-offerings, and the day of atone- 
ment (practically unknown before the fall of 
Jerusalem in 586 B. c.) reflect the spirit of the 
later Judaism which sought to win Jehovah's 
favor by its many sacrifices. Within these 
priestly codes there is also evidence of devel- 
opment. The older collections, such as the 
priestly teachings, were probably made early in 
the Babylonian exile. Others represent the 
gradual expansion and supplementing of these 
older groups, the process apparently continuing 
until the days of Nehemiah and Ezra. The 
whole, therefore, is the fruit of the remarkable 
priestly literary activity between 600 and 400 
B. c, and possibly extending even later. 



150 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Adoption of 
the priestly 
law about 
400 b. c. 



Aim and 
characteris- 
tics of the 
priestly 
narratives 



The Jewish community which Nehemiah 
found in Palestine was still living under the 
Deuteronomic law, and apparently knew noth- 
ing of the very different demands of the priestly 
codes. His reform measures recorded in Nehe- 
miah v. and xiii., as well as his effective work 
in repairing the walls, prepared the way for the 
sweeping innovations which followed the public 
acceptance of the new law-book, brought accord- 
ing to tradition by Ezra. Five out of the eight 
regulations specified by the oath then taken by 
the leaders of the nation (Neh. x. 30-39) are 
found only in the priestly codes ; one of them, 
indeed, is not presented elsewhere in the Old 
Testament. Henceforth the life of the Jewish 
race is moulded by these later codes. It is, 
therefore, safe to conclude that they consti- 
tuted the essence of the new law-book solemnly 
adopted by the Jewish community as its guide 
somewhere about 400 B. c. 

Inasmuch as the interest of the priests centred 
in ceremonial institutions and the history of the 
law, rather than about individuals and politics, 
it was natural that they also should write their 
own history of the race. Their general purpose 
was to give an introduction and setting to their 
laws. As might be anticipated, this priestly 
history incorporates the traditions of the late 



The Priestly Laws and Histories 151 

priestly school, and therefore those current long 
centuries after the events recorded transpired. 
As in the case of the prophetic narratives, the 
aim is not primarily historical, but doctrinal. 
The peculiar vocabulary, language, and theo- 
logical conceptions are those which distinguish 
the post-exilic priestly editors of the latest Old 
Testament laws. 

Their history begins with the majestic ac- Their sketch 
count of creation in Genesis i. 1 to ii. 4a. God history 1 
does not form man from the dust, as in the 
primitive prophetic account, but by a simple 
word of command; and by progressive acts of 
creation he realizes his perfect plan, which cul- 
minates in the creation of mankind. The liter- 
ary style is that of a legalist: formal, precise, 
repetitious, and generic. The ultimate aim of 
the narrative is to trace the origin of the in- 
stitution of the Sabbath back to the creation. 
The genealogical history of Genesis v. connects 
this account of creation with the priestly version 
of the flood story which leads up to the covenant 
with Noah. The priestly genealogical histories 
of Genesis x. and xi. 10-27 trace the ancestry 
of the Hebrews through Abraham. Regarding 
this patriarch these later historians present only 
a brief sketch; in Genesis xvii., however, they 
expand their narrative to give in detail the 



152 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

origin of the rite of circumcision, which they 
associate with him. Jacob is to them chiefly 
of interest as the father of the ten tribes. 

From Egypt The history of the experiences of the Hebrews 
in Egypt is briefly outlined as the prelude to the 
traditional institution of the feast of the pass- 
over. Sinai, however, is the great goal of the 
priestly narratives, for about it they group all 
their laws. It is their concrete method of pro- 
claiming the antiquity and divine origin of Israel- 
itish legislation. The period of the wilderness 
wandering is also made the background of many 
important legal precedents. The priestly his- 
tory concludes with an account of the conquest 
of Canaan and the allotment of the territory to 
the different tribes. 

The lack of In these late priestly narratives the historical 

historical ... . . . , , , , , , 

perspective perspective is sometimes considerably shortened 
and sometimes lengthened. Moreover, their 
representation often differs widely from that of 
the parallel but much earlier prophetic histories. 
The original traditions have also assumed larger 
proportions, and the supernatural element is 
much more prominent. This is evidently the 
result of long transmission, in an age that had 
largely lost the historic sense, and among the 
priestly exiles, who were far removed from the 
real life of Palestine. 



The Priestly Laws and Histories 153 



The wide variations between the older pro- Variations 
phetic and late priestly accounts of the same older and 
events might be illustrated by scores of ex- ^™ ar " 
amples. The following parallel account of the 
exodus will suffice : 



Early Judean Prophetic 
Account 

Ex. xiv. 19b. Then 
the pillar of cloud 
changed its position 
from before them and 
stood behind them. 
(20b) And the cloud 
lighted up the night; 
yet throughout the en- 
tire night the one army 
did not come near the 
other. (21b) And Je- 
hovah caused the sea to 
go back by a strong east 
wind all the night, and 
made the bed of the 
sea dry. (24b) And it 
came to pass in the 
watch before the dawn 
that Jehovah looked 
forth through the pillar 
of fire and of cloud upon 
the host of the Egyp- 
tians, (25) and he bound 



Late Priestly Account 
of the Exodus 

(21a, c) Then Moses 
stretched out his hand 
over the sea, and the 
waters were divided, 
(22) so that the Israel- 
ites went into the 
midst of the sea on 
the dry ground; and 
the waters were a wall 
to them on their right 
hand and on their left. 
(23b) And the Egyp- 
tians went in after them 
into the midst of the 
sea, all Pharaoh's horses, 
his chariots, and his 
horsemen. (26) Then 
Jehovah said to Moses, 
Stretch out thy hand 
over the sea, that the 
waters may come again 
upon the Egyptians, 
upon their chariots and 



154 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Inferior his- 
torical value 
of the 
priestly 
narratives 



their chariot wheels, so 
that they proceeded 
with difficulty. Then 
the Egyptians said, Let 
us flee from before Is- 
rael ; for Jehovah fight- 
eth for them against 
the Egyptians. (27b) 
But the sea returned to 
its ordinary level toward 
morning, while the 
Egyptians were flying 
before it. And Jehovah 
shook off the Egyp- 
tians into the midst of 
the sea, (28b) so that 
not one of them re- 
mained. (30) Thus Je- 
hovah saved Israel 
that day out of the 
power of the Egyptians ; 
and Israel saw the 
Egyptians dead upon 
the sea-shore. 



No one can doubt for a moment that the 
older, simpler, and more natural version is, from 
the historical point of view, the more accurate. 
The normal man to-day has outgrown the crav- 
ing for the grotesquely supernatural. The om- 

1 " Student's Old Testament," Vol. I., 175, 176. 



their horsemen. (27a) 
So Moses stretched 
forth his hand over the 
sea, (28a) and the 
waters returned and 
covered the chariots, 
and the horsemen, even 
all the host of Pharaoh 
that went in after them 
into the sea. (29) But 
the Israelites walked 
upon dry land in the 
midst of the sea, the 
waters being a wall to 
them on their right 
hand, and on their left. 1 



The Priestly Laws and Histories 155 

nipotent, omniscient, loving Creator, who reveals 
himself through the growing flower, commands 
our admiration as fully as a God who speaks 
through the unusual and extraordinary. Every- 
thing is possible with God, and the man is blind 
indeed who would deny the Infinite Being, 
who is all and in all, the ability to pass beyond 
the bounds of that which we, with our extremely 
limited vision, have designated as natural. The 
real question is, How did God see fit to accom- 
plish his ends? Our judicial and historical 
sense unhesitatingly inclines to the older and 
simpler narratives as containing the true answer. 
In distinguishing these different strands of nar- 
rative, it must be acknowledged that modern 
biblical scholarship has performed a service in- 
valuable alike to the student of literature, of 
history, and of revelation. 

In passing, it is instructive to note that, almost Recognition 
without exception, Ingersoll's once famous ex- defects and 
amples of the mistakes of Moses were drawn real value 
from the priestly narratives. It is safe to pre- 
dict that had that learned jurist been introduced, 
when a boy, to the Old Testament, as revealed 
in modern light, he would have enjoyed a very 
different popular fame. In the divine economy, 
however, even the sledge-hammer of ridicule 
may play an important role in shattering false 



156 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



The eccle- 
siastical 
history of 
Chronicles 
and Ezra- 
Nehemiah 



claims and the untenable theories which obscure 
the real truth. It is wholesome to apply the 
principle of relative values to the Bible, since 
one cannot fully appreciate the best without 
recognizing that which is inferior. These 
priestly narratives come from a school which, in 
its reverence for the form and the letter, had 
begun to lose sight of the vital and spiritual. 
Its still later product is that ritualistic Judaism 
which stands in such unfavorable contrast to 
the perfected spiritual revelation which came 
through Jesus. At the same time, the recogni- 
tion of the defects of the late priestly school 
should not deter us from appreciating the rich 
religious teaching of a narrative like the first 
chapter of Genesis, nor from accepting its great 
message, namely, that through all natural phe- 
nomena and history God is revealing and per- 
fecting his gracious purpose. 

The long ecclesiastical history found in I and 
II Chronicles and the original sequel of these 
books, Ezra and Nehemiah, were written from 
the same general point of view as the late 
priestly narratives, but in a much later period. 
The same peculiar literary style and conceptions, 
which recur throughout these four books, show 
clearly that they are from one author and age. 
Since they trace the history to the beginning of 



The Priestly Laws and Histories 157 

the Greek period and speak of the kings and 
events of the Persian period as if they belonged 
to the distant past, it is evident that the anony- 
mous author, who is usually designated as the 
Chronicler, lived after the conquests of Alex- 
ander. The internal evidence all points to the 
middle of the third century before Christ as the 
date of their composition. 

From the author's evident interest in the Its general 
ritual of the temple, and especially its song ser- 
vice, it would appear that he belonged to one 
of the guilds of temple singers that became 
prominent in the post-exilic period. His his- 
tory centres about the sanctuary and its ser- 
vices. Since Judah, not Israel, is the land of 
the temple, Northern Israel is almost completely 
ignored. Like the late priestly historians, his 
chief aim is to trace the origin of the cere- 
monial institutions back to the beginnings of 
Hebrew history. Thus he represents the song 
service and the guilds of singers as having 
been established in the days of David. Living 
as he did under the glamour of the great Per- 
sian and Greek empires, he, in common with 
his contemporaries, idealized the past glories of 
his race. As we compare his versions of early 
events with the older parallel accounts of Samuel 
and Kings, we find that iron has become gold, 



158 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Sources of 
I and II 

Chronicles 



The older 
sources 
ijuoted in 
Ezra- 
Nehemiah 



and hundreds have become thousands, and de- 
feats are transformed into victories. No men- 
tion is made of the crimes of such kings as 
David and Solomon, since they are venerated 
profoundly as the founders of the temple. 

The basis of I and II Chronicles is the pro- 
phetic history of Samuel and Kings ; from these 
the author quotes verbatim chapter after chap- 
ter, according as their contents are adapted to 
his purpose. This groundwork he supplements 
by introducing the priestly traditions current in 
his own day. Possibly he quotes also from cer- 
tain somewhat earlier written collections of tra- 
ditions, for to those, following the example of 
the author of Kings, he frequently refers his 
readers for further information. In some cases 
these later traditions may have preserved au- 
thentic, supplemental data; but when the rep- 
resentation of Chronicles differs, as it frequently 
does, from that of Samuel and Kings, the older 
and more sober prophetic history is undoubtedly 
to be followed. 

In Ezra and Nehemiah the author has pre- 
served some exceedingly valuable historical 
material, for he has quoted, fortunately, long 
sections from two or three older sources. 
One is the document in Ezra iv. 7 to vi. 14, 
the original Aramaic of which is retained. 



The Priestly Laws and Histories 159 

This appears to have been a temple record, dat- 
ing from the middle or latter part of the Persian 
period, and tells of the interruption of the 
temple building in the days of Darius and the 
finding of the original decree of Cyrus sanc- 
tioning the restoration of the shrine of Jerusa- 
lem. Still more important is the wonderful 
memoir of Nehemiah quoted in Nehemiah i., 
ii., iv. to vii. 5, xii. 31, 32, 37-40, and xiii. 4-31. 
Here we are able to study the events of an ex- 
ceedingly important period through the eyes 
of the man who, by his able and self-sacrific- 
ing efforts, did more than any one else to de- 
velop and shape later Judaism. Less important, 
yet suggestive, citations are taken from the 
priestly traditions regarding the work of Ezra. 
The final editor has apparently rearranged this 
material in order to give to the work of Ezra the 
scribe such precedence over that of Nehemiah 
the layman, as, from his later Levitical point 
of view, he deemed proper. Restoring what 
seems to have been the original order (*'. e., 
Ezra vii. viii., Neh. vii. 70 to viii. 18; Ezra ix., 
x. ; Neh. ix., x.) and studying it as the se- 
quel of Nehemiah's essential pioneer work, 
the obscurities of this period begin to disap- 
pear and its significant facts to stand out in 
clear relief. 



160 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Value of the Thus we find that, quoting largely as he does, 
™h e lt priesth from much older sources, the author of this great 
school ecclesiastical history of Judah and the temple 

has given us, in Ezra and Nehemiah, some 
exceedingly important historical data. His writ- 
ings also clearly reveal the ideas and institu- 
tions of his own day ; but otherwise it is not as 
history that his work is of permanent value. 
Rather it is because, in common with all the 
great teachers who speak to us through the Old 
Testament, he believed firmly in the moral order 
of the universe, and that back of all events 
and all history is an infinitely powerful yet just 
and merciful God who is constantly revealing 
himself to mankind. While these later priestly 
writers were not in such close touch with fact 
and life as were the prophets, and while they 
were subject to the defects of all extreme ritu- 
alists and theologians, they were faithful her- 
alds of truth to their own and later generations. 
Behind their symbolism and traditions lie cer- 
tain great universal principles which amply 
reward an earnest quest. 



THE HEBREW SAGES AND THEIR 
PROVERBS 



THE HEBREW SAGES AND THEIR 
PROVERBS 

In the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. R6h ofth 
xviii. 18; Ezek. vii. 26) three distinct classes //me/'" 
of religious teachers were recognized by the ll f e 
people : the prophets, the priests, and the wise 
men or sages. From their lips and pens have 
come practically all the writings of the Old 
Testament. Of these three classes the wise 
men or sages are far less prominent or well 
known. They wrote no history of Israel, they 
preached no public sermons, nor do they appear 
to have been connected with any sanctuaries. 
Quietly, as private teachers, they appealed to 
the nation through the consciences and wills of 
individuals. Proverbs viii. 1-5 reveals their 
methods : 

Doth not wisdom cry, 

And understanding put forth her voice? 

On the top of high places by the way, 

Where the paths meet, she standeth ; 

Beside the gates, at the entry of the city, 

At the coming in at the doors, she crieth aloud : 



tions 



164 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Unto you, O men, I call ; 

And my voice is to the sons of men. 

O ye simple, understand prudence ; 

And ye fools, be of an understanding heart. 

At the open spaces beside the city gates, 
where legal cases were tried, at the intersec- 
tions of the streets, wherever men congregated, 
the sages of ancient Israel could be found, ready 
and eager to instruct or advise the inexperi- 
enced and foolish. 
Their func- The wise man or sage is a characteristic 
Oriental figure. First Kings iv. 30 speaks of 
the far-famed wisdom of the nomadic tribes of 
northern Arabia and of the wisdom of Egypt. 
The sage appears to have been the product of 
the early nomadic Semitic life, in which books 
were unknown and the practical wisdom gained 
by experience was treasured in the minds of 
certain men who were called the wise or sages. 
In our more complex western life such func- 
tions have been distributed among the members 
of the legal, medical, and clerical professions, 
but even now, in smaller towns, may be found 
an Uncle Toby who is the counterpart of the 
ancient Hebrew sage. To men of this type 
young and old resort with their private prob- 
lems, and rarely return without receiving real 
help and light. In the East, sages are still to 



Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs 165 

be found, usually gray-bearded elders, honored 
and influential in the tribe or town. 

Of the three classes of Israel's teachers the Source of 
sages stood in closest touch with the people. e d ge and 
They were naturally the father-confessors of ins P iration 
the community. Observation was their guide, 
enlightened common sense their interpreter, and 
experience their teacher. The great book of 
human life, which is one of the most impor- 
tant chapters of divine revelation, was thrown 
open wide before them. The truths that they 
read there, as their eyes were divinely opened 
to see it, are recorded in the wisdom books of the 
Old Testament, — Proverbs, Job, The Song of 
Songs, and Ecclesiastes. 

It is significant that neither Israel nor the The objects 
nation is mentioned in all the wisdom litera- attention 
ture, and that man is spoken of thirty-three 
times in the book of Proverbs alone. Man was 
the object of their study and teaching; the 
nation, only as it was made up of individuals. 
In this respect the sages stand in contrast with 
the prophets, whose message usually is to the 
nation. They also have little to say about the 
ritual or the forms of religion. To them the 
fear and knowledge of God is the beginning of 
wisdom, and its end a normal relation to God, 
to one's fellowmen, and to life. Their message 



166 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

is directed equally to all mankind. The sub- 
jects that command their attention are of uni- 
versal interest: the nature and tendencies of 
man, and his relations and duties to God, to 
society, to the family, and to himself. Every- 
thing that concerns man, whether it be the till- 
ing of the soil, the choice of a wife, the conduct 
of a lawsuit, or the proper deportment in the 
presence of a ruler, commands their earnest 
consideration. 
Their aims The Hebrew sages, however, were not mere 
"aitut° retl ~ students of human nature or philosophers. 
practical Knowledge to them was not an end in itself, 
but only a means. Their contribution to 
Israel's life was counsel (Jer. xviii. 18). 
Their aim was, by the aid of their tried maxims, 
to so advise the inexperienced, the foolish, in- 
deed, all who needed advice, that they might 
live the fullest and best lives and successfully 
attain all worthy ends. While their teaching 
was distinctively ethical and religious, it was 
also very practical and utilitarian. As pastors 
and advisers of the people, they drew their 
principles and ideals from Israel's prophets, 
and applied them to the practical, every-day 
problems of life. It is obvious that without 
their patient, devoted instruction the prepara- 
tion of the chosen people for their mission 



Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs 167 

would have been imperfect, and that without 
a record of their teachings the Old Testament 
would have been incomplete. 

The proverb was the most characteristic Their teach- 
literary form in which the sages treasured and Terved^n 
imparted their teachings. Poetical in structure, prover s 
terse, often figurative or epigrammatic, the 
proverb was well calculated to arouse individ- 
ual thought and make a deep impression on 
the mind. Transmitted from mouth to mouth 
for many generations, like the popular tradi- 
tion or law, it lost by attrition all its un- 
necessary elements, so that, 4 like an arrow, ' it 
shot straight to the mark. Based on common 
human experience, it found a ready response 
in the heart of man. In this way crystallized 
experience was transmitted, gathering effective- 
ness and volume in each succeeding generation. 
Job viii. 8-10 speaks of this accumulated wis- 
dom handed down from the former age, that 
which the fathers have searched out They shall 
teach man and inform him, and utter words out 
of their heart. Job xv. 18 also refers to that 
which wise men have told from their fathers and 
have not hid it. A proverb thus orally trans- 
mitted not only gains in beauty of form but 
also in authority, for it is constantly being 
tested in the laboratory of real life and re- 



168 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Expansion 
of the 
proverb 



Use of 
fables and 
riddles 



ceives the silent attestation of thousands of 
men and of many different generations. 

When the sages desired to treat a many-sided 
subject, as, for example, intemperance, they 
still used proverbs, but combined them into 
brief gnomic essays (e. #., xxiii. 29-35, xxvi. 
1-17). Sometimes, to fix the attention of their 
hearers, they combined two proverbs, so as to 
produce a paradox, as in Proverbs xxvi. 4, 5 : 

Answer not a fool according to his folly, 
Lest thou also be like unto him. 
Answer a fool according to his folly, 
Lest he be wise in his own conceit. 

Later they developed the simple gnomic essay 

into a philosophical drama, of which Job 

is the classic example, or into a homily, like 

Ecclesiastes. 

Side by side with the proverb, the sages 

appear from the earliest times to have used the 

fable also; this is illustrated by the fable of 

Jotham in Judges ix. 6-21. . Of the riddle a 

famous examples is that of Samson in Judges 

xiv. 14, 18, which combines rhythm of sound 

with rhythm of thought and well illustrates the 

form of the earliest popular Hebrew poetry: 

Out of the eater came something to eat, 
And out of the strong came something sweet, 

and its answer: 



Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs 169 

If with my heifer you did not plow, 
You had not solved my riddle now. 

Proverbs xxx. 15-31 contains a collection of 
numerical riddles, combined with their answers. 

Proverbs are found in the oldest Hebrew lit- Traces of 
erature. The Midianite kings, awaiting death Rework V 
at the hand of Gideon, cite a popular proverb, JjjSJ* in the 
For as the man. so is his strength. David in Hebrew 

* history 

his conversation with Saul says, As runs the 
proverb, " Out of the wicked cometh forth wicked- 
ness" (I Sam. xxiv. 13). Frequent references 
are also found to wise men and women, and 
examples are given of their prudence and in- 
sight. Thus Joab, David's iron-hearted com- 
mander, brings a wise woman from Tekoa, the 
later home of the prophet Amos, to aid him in 
securing the recall of the banished Absalom. 
By her feigned story she succeeds in working 
upon the sympathy of the king to such a degree 
that he commits himself finally to a principle 
which she at once asks him to apply to the case 
of his own son (II Sam. xiv. 1-24). 

The stories told in I Kings iii. 16-28, to illus- Basis of 
trate the wisdom of Solomon, suggest the his- reputation 
torical basis of the reputation which he enjoyed f ormsdom 
in the thought of succeeding generations. Such 
stories also indicate, as do the other early ex- 
amples of the work of the wise, the conception 



170 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

of wisdom held in that more primitive age. 
Such wisdom does not necessarily include 
ethical righteousness or even practical exe- 
cutive ability, for the true Solomon of history 
was lacking in both; but rather a certain 
shrewdness, versatility, and keenness of insight 
which enable its possessor to discern what is 
not clearly apparent. First Kings iv. 29-34 
contains the later popular tradition of Solomon's 
wisdom : 

(29) And God gave Solomon wisdom and insight 
in plentiful measure, and breadth of mind, 
even as the sand that is on the seashore, (30) 
so that Solomon's wisdom surpassed the wis- 
dom of all the eastern Arabians and all the 
wisdom of Egypt. (31) For he was wiser than 
all men: than Ethan the Ezrahite, and He- 
man, Calcol, Darda, the sons of Mahol, and 
his fame was in all the surrounding nations. 
(32) And he uttered three thousand proverbs, 
and his songs were five thousand. (33) And 
he spoke of different varieties of trees, from 
the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the 
hyssop that springs out of the wall ; he spoke 
also of beasts, of birds, of creeping things, 
and of fishes. (34) And there came some from 
among all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solo- 



Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs 171 

mon, deputed by all kings of the earth, who 
had heard of his wisdom. 

A popular proverb, like a primitive oral law, Reason why 

,, „ . . all ancient 

usually grows out 01 common human expen- proverbs 
ence, and is gradually formulated and moulded ™^d to Mm 
into its final literary form by successive gen- 
erations. No one man can claim it as his own, 
and even if he could, the ancient Semitic East, 
which cared so little about authors' titles, would 
have quickly forgotten his name. That Solo- 
mon did utter certain brilliant aphorisms, em- 
bellished by illustrations drawn from animal 
and plant life, cannot be doubted; and that 
some of them have been preserved in the book 
of Proverbs is probable. These facts and the 
popular tradition that tended to exalt his 
wisdom clearly explain why all Hebrew prov- 
erbs were attributed to him (Prov. i. 1), in 
the days of the final editing of the book of 
Proverbs. 
That our present book of Proverbs is the work Evidence 

£ -i t . , P , that Prov- 

of many unknown sages, and consists of a col- er bs comes 
lection of smaller groups coming from different different V 
periods, is demonstrated by the superscriptions writers 
which recur throughout the book, such as, 
These are the proverbs of Solomon (x. 1), These 
also are the sayings of the wise (xxiv. 23), These 
are the proverbs of Solomon which the men of 



172 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Hezekiah king of Judah copied out (xxv. 5), 
The words of King Lemuel (xxxi. 1). The 
same proverbs also recur in different groups, in- 
dicating that originally they were independent 
collections, gleaned from the same field. When 
the first collection was made, the title Proverb 
of Solomon evidently meant a popular maxim 
handed down from antiquity and therefore natu- 
rally attributed to the most famous wise man 
in Israel's early history. It is an instructive 
fact that later proverbs, the immediate super- 
scriptions to which plainly state that they come 
from many different sages, are still called Prov- 
erbs of Solomon; it betrays an exact parallel 
to the similar tendency, apparent in the legal 
and prophetic literature, to attribute late an- 
onymous writings to earlier authors. This is 
also further illustrated by such late Jewish 
books as The Wisdom of Solomon or the Psalms 
of Solomon, 
Testimony The individual proverbs confirm the general 
mdualprov- conclusion that they come from many different 
erbs authors. Those which commend fidelity to 

one wife and kingly consideration for the 
rights of subjects, qualities in which Solomon 
was sadly lacking, do not fit in his mouth. 
Many are written from the point of view of a 
subject, and describe what a man should do in 



Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs 173 

the presence of a ruler. Furthermore, the ethi- 
cal standards upheld are those of prophets who 
lived and taught long after the days of the 
Grand Monarch who fascinated his own and 
succeeding generations by his brilliant wit 
rather than by his sterling virtues. 

The book of Proverbs is far more than an Real nature 
epitome of his versatile sayings : it represents at ^ rover * 
least ten centuries of experience divinely guided, 
but won often through mistakes and bitter 
disappointments. It contains the many index 
hands, set up before the eyes of men to point 
them from error to truth, from folly to right, 
and from failure to success. Like most of the 
Old Testament books, it embodies the contri- 
butions of many different teachers writing from 
many different ages and points of view. Their 
common aim is well expressed by the sage who 
appended to Proverbs the preface : 

To acquire wisdom and training, 

To understand rational discourse, 

To receive training in wise conduct, 

In uprightness, justice, and rectitude, 

To impart discretion to the inexperienced, 

To the young knowledge and insight ; 

That the wise man may hear and add to his learning, 

And the man of intelligence gain education, 

To understand a proverb and a parable, 

The words of sages and their aphorisms. 



174 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



The first 
edition of 
Proverbs 



Dates of 
the other 
collections 



The structure and contents of the book sug- 
gest its literary history. Like the New Testa- 
ment, it appears to have passed through different 
stages, and to have been supplemented repeatedly 
by the addition of new collections. The origi- 
nal nucleus is probably found in x. 1 to xxii., 
16; this is introduced by the simple super-? 
scription, The Proverbs of Solomon. The form 
of the proverb is simple ; the atmosphere is joy- 
ous, prosperity prevails, virtue is rewarded; a 
king who loves justice and righteousness is on 
the throne (xiv. 35, xvi. 10, 12, 13, xx. 8, xxii. 
11) ; the rich and poor stand in the same rela- 
tion to each other as in the days of the pre -exilic 
prophets ; and the teaching of their prophets — 
righteousness is more acceptable than sacrifice 
— is frequently reiterated (xv. 8, xvi. 6, xxi. 3, 
27). While this long collection doubtless con- 
tains many proverbs antedating even the begin- 
nings of Israel's history and possibly some added 
later, the indications are that they represent the 
original edition of the book which the Jews car- 
ried with them into the Babylonian exile. This 
early collection was perhaps made under the in- 
spiring influence of the reign of Josiah. 

Undoubtedly the remaining collections also 
contain many very ancient proverbs, but as a 
whole their literary form and thought is more 



Hebrew Sages and their Proverbs 175 

complex. The descriptions of the kings sug- 
gest the Persian and Greek tyrants who ruled 
over the Jews during the long centuries after 
the exile (cf. xxv. 1-7, xxviii. 2, 12, 15, 28, 
xxix. 2, 4, 16, xix. 14). The age of the 
prophets has apparently been succeeded by that 
of the priest and the law (xxix. 18). Already 
the Jews have tasted the bitterness of exile 
(xxvii. 8). There are also certain points of 
close contact with proverbs of Ben Sira, writ- 
ten about 190 B. c. The sages as a class are 
very prominent, as in the later centuries be- 
fore Christ. These and many other indications 
lead to the conclusion that the different col- 
lections were probably made after the exile, 
and that the noble introduction, i.-ix., and the 
two chapters in the appendix were not added 
until some time in the Greek period, — not 
long before 200 B. c. The date, however, when 
these proverbs arose and were committed to 
writing is comparatively unimportant, save as 
a knowledge of their background aids in their 
interpretation, and as they, in turn, reveal the 
life and thought of the persecuted, tempted 
Jews, whose religious life centred in the second 
temple. 

Probably in the Greek period also a poet-sage Teaching of 
collected and wove together certain love and f Songs 



176 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

wedding songs of his race. The result was 
called the Song of Songs, that is, the Peerless 
Song. According to one interpretation, it pre- 
sents, in a series of scenes, the heart struggle 
of a simple country maiden with the prompt- 
ings of a true, pure love for a shepherd lover 
and the bewildering attractions of a royal 
marriage; and true love in the end triumphs. 
Whatever be the interpretation, it is clear that 
this exquisite little book, so filled with pictures 
of nature and simple country life, was intended 
to emphasize the duty and beauty of fidelity 
to nature and the promptings of the human 
heart. This thought is expressed in the power- 
ful passage which seems to voice the central 
teaching of the poem: 

Love is strong as death ; 

Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol ; 

Its flashes are flashes of fire, 

A very flame of Jehovah. 

Many waters cannot quench love, 

Neither can floods drown it : 

If a man would give all the substance of his 

house for love, 
He would utterly be contemned. 



XI 

THE WRITINGS OF ISRAEL'S 
PHILOSOPHERS 



XI 



THE WRITINGS OF ISRAEL'S 
PHILOSOPHERS 

An intense interest in man led certain of Discussions 

T • i • of the prob- 

Israels sages in time to devote their atten- Um of evil 
tion to more general philosophical problems, 
such as the moral order of the universe. In 
the earlier proverbs, prophetic histories, and 
laws, the doctrine that sin was always pun- 
ished by suffering or misfortune, and con- 
versely that calamity and misfortune were sure 
evidence of the guilt of the one affected, had 
been reiterated until it had become a dogma. 
In nine out of ten cases this doctrine was true, 
but in time experience proved that the tenth 
case might be an exception. While most of 
the teachers of the race denied or ignored this 
exception, certain wise men, faithful and un- 
flinching in their analysis of human life, faced 
the fact that the innocent as well as the guilty 
sometimes suffer. Their quest for the answer 
to the eternal question, Why? is recorded in 
the Jbooks of Job and Ecclesiastes. 



180 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

The primi- The basis of the book of Job is undoubtedly 
tfjob*** a primitive story. Traces of a tradition some- 
what similiar have recently been discovered in 
the Baby Ionian- Assyrian literature. The Baby- 
lonian treatment of the moral problem that it 
presents is even more strikingly similar. Eze- 
kiel also refers to a well-known popular Hebrew 
version of the story of Job (xiv. 14): though 
these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it 
(the guilty land), they would deliver simply their 
own lives by their righteousness, saith the Lord 
Jehovah (cf. also xiv. 20). Evidently in Eze- 
kiel's day these names represented three ancient 
worthies, each conspicuous for his superlative 
piety. The Hebrew word here used also indi- 
cates that the righteousness attributed to them 
was conformity to the demands of the ritual. 
This agrees closely with the representation of 
the prose version of the story found in Job i. ii. 
and xlii. 7-17; here the supreme illustration 
of Job's piety is that he repeatedly sacrifices 
burnt-offerings, whenever there is the least pos- 
sibility that his sons have sinned (i. 4, 5). 
Also in describing his perfection (i. 1), the 
same unusual term is employed as in the 
priestly narrative of Genesis vi. 9, where 
Noah's righteousness is portrayed. 

It seems probable, therefore, that the ancient 



The Writings of Israel's Philosophers 181 

story of Job was committed to writing by some Original 
priest during the Babylonian exile. Since Job application 
and his friends live out on the borders of the ^fj P rose 
Arabian desert to the east or southeast of 
Palestine, it seems clear that the tradition came 
to the Hebrews originally from some foreign 
source ; but in the prose form in which we find 
it in Job, it has been thoroughly naturalized, 
for Job is a faithful servant of Jehovah and the 
law. Ignoring for the moment the poetical 
sections (iii. 1 to xlii. 6), we find that the prose 
story has a direct, practical message for the 
broken-hearted exiles, crushed beneath an 
overpowering calamity. Jehovah is testing his 
servant people, as he tests Job in the story, to 
prove whether or not they fear God for nought 
(i. 9). If they bear the test without com- 
plaint, as did Job, all their former possessions 
will be restored to them in double measure 
(xlii. 7-17). 

This prose story has apparently been utilized The prob- 
and given a very different interpretation by a pZtical tec- 
later poet-sage in whose ears rang Jeremiah's Uons °f Job 
words of anguish, found in chapter xx. 14-18 
of his prophecy (cf. Job iii.), and to whose 
ears came also the cry of the pious voiced in 
Malachi ii. 17 : Every one who does evil is good 
in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in 



182 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

them. Where is the God of justice? The old 
solutions of the problem of evil were being 
openly discarded. They who feared Jehovah were 
saying (iii. 13, 14), It is vain to serve God; and 
what profit is it to have kept his charge or to have 
walked in funeral garb before Jehovah of hosts f 
Even now we must congratulate the arrogant; 
yea, they who work wickedness are entrenched; 
yea, they tempt God and escape ! With a bold- 
ness and thoroughness that must have seemed to 
his contemporaries dangerous and heretical, the 
great poet-sage presents the problem in all its 
intensity. 
The role of He adopts the popular story, utilizing it as 

Job and his ,. , , . , , 

friends in his prologue and epilogue ; but as we pass to 
^problem cna pt er iii., the simple, pure Hebrew yields to 
sublime poetry, shot through with the words 
and idioms and ideas of a much later age. The 
designation of God is no longer Jehovah, but El 
or Eloah or Shaddai. The character of Job sud- 
denly changes ; instead of being the patient, sub- 
missive servant of the law, he boldly, almost 
defiantly, charges God with injustice. The 
r6le of the friends also changes, and they figure 
as champions of the Deity. In their successive 
speeches they present in detail the current dog- 
mas and the popular explanations of suffering. 
In his replies Job points out their inapplicability 



The Writings of Israel's Philosophers 183 

to the supreme problem of which he is the em- 
bodiment. The action and progress in this 
great drama is within the mind of Job himself. 
By degrees he rises to a clear perception of the 
fact that he is innocent of any crime com- 
mensurate with the overwhelming series of 
calamities which have overtaken him; and he 
thus throws off the shackles of the ancient 
dogma. From the seemingly cruel and unjust 
God who has brought this undeserved calamity 
upon him, he then appeals to the Infinite Being 
who is back of all phenomena. 

The reply to this appeal, and the author's The message 
contribution to the eternal problem of evil, are 
found in xxxviii. 1 to xlii. 6. It is not a solu- 
tion, but through the wonders of the natural 
world, it is a fuller revelation to the mind of 
Job, of the omnipotence, the omniscience, the 
wisdom, and the goodness of God. Even though 
he cannot discern the reason of his own suffer- 
ing, he learns to know and to trust the wis- 
dom and love of the Divine Ruler. 

I had heard of this by the hearing of the ear ; 
But now mine eye seeth thee (xlii. 5). 

Faith triumphs over doubt, and the problem, 
though unsolved, sinks into comparative insig- 
nificance. 



184 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Teaching of 
the Elihu 
passage 
xxxii- 
xxxvii 



Probable 
history of 
the book 
of Job 



Apparently another poet-sage has added, 
out of the depths of his own experience, his 
contribution to the problem of suffering in the 
speeches of Elihu (chapters xxxii-xxxvii.). It 
is that suffering rightly borne becomes a blessing 
because it is one of God's ways of training his 
servants. This indeed is an expansion of the 
explanation urged by Eliphaz in v. 17, Behold, 
happy is the man whom Grod correcteth. While 
these speeches of Elihu are written in a differ- 
ent literary style and have, in fact, no vital 
connection with the original poem of Job, they 
nevertheless contain a great and intensely prac- 
tical truth ; they have rightly found a place in 
this marvellous book. Similarly the sublime 
description of wisdom in chapter xxviii. makes 
good its title ; it can, however, be studied best 
by itself apart from Job's impassioned protesta- 
tions of his innocence (chapter xxix.). 

Thus the book of Job, like so many other 
Old Testament writings, has its own literary 
history. Somewhere and sometime, back in an 
early Semitic period, there doubtless lived a 
man, conspicuous for his virtue and prosperity. 
Upon him fell a misfortune so great and ap- 
parently undeserved that it made a deep impres- 
sion, not only upon his contemporaries, but also 
upon the minds of later generations. Thus 



The Writings of Israel's Philosophers 185 

there grew up a common Semitic story of Job 
which was in time thoroughly naturalized in 
Israel. Probably a Jewish priest in the exile 
first committed it to writing in order to assure 
his fellow-sufferers that could they but be 
patient and submissive Jehovah would soon 
restore them to their former prosperity. The 
painful experiences that came to the Jews, 
especially to the pious, during the middle and 
latter part of the Persian period (sometime be- 
tween 450 and 340 b. a), convinced a poet-sage 
that the old interpretations of the meaning of 
suffering did not suffice. Accordingly into the 
heart of the familiar story of Job he injected 
his powerful, impassioned message. Later writ- 
ers, inspired by his inspiring genius, added their 
contributions to the solution of the perennial 
problem. Hence by 200 b. c, at least, the 
book of Job was probably current in its present 
form. 

The same ever-recurring, insistent questions Age and 
regarding the moral value and meaning of ofEccle- 
life led another later wise man to embody the smst€S 
results of his observation and experience in 
what we now know as the book of Ecclesiastes. 
Although i. 16 and ii. 7, 9 clearly imply that 
many kings had already reigned in Jerusalem, 
the author seems to put his observations in the 



186 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

mouth of Solomon, the acknowledged patron 
of wisdom teaching. The evidence, however, 
that the book is one of the latest in the Old 
Testament is overwhelmingly conclusive. The 
language is that of an age when Hebrew had 
long ceased to be spoken. The life mirrored 
throughout is that of the luxurious, corrupt 
Greek period. If not directly, at least indi- 
rectly, it reflects the doctrines of the Stoics and 
the Epicureans. It was a crooked, sordid, weary 
world upon which its author looked. It is not 
strange that a vein of materialism and pessimism 
runs through his observations and maxims. All 
is vanity is the dominant note, and yet light al- 
ternates with shadow. He loses faith in human 
nature; yet he does not give up his faith in 
God, though that faith is darkened by the deso- 
lateness of the outlook. While the book has 
practical religious teachings, perhaps its chief 
mission, after all, is vividly to portray the dark- 
ness just before the dawn of the belief in a 
future life and before the glorious rising of the 
Sun of Righteousness. 
Significance Its teachings naturally called forth many pro- 
additioM tests, explanations, and supplements, and these 
have found the permanent place in the book that 
they rightfully deserve. Its fragmentary struc- 
ture and abrupt transitions also made later 



The Writings of Israel's Philosophers 187 

insertions exceedingly easy. These are the 
simplest and the most natural explanation of 
the sharp contradictions that abound in the 
book (cf, e. g., ii. 22 and iii. 22, or iv. 2 and 
ix. 4, or iii. 16 and iii. 17, or viii. 14 and ix. 
2, or iii. 1-9 and iii. 11). The preacher, whose 
painful experiences and prevailingly pessimistic 
teachings are the original basis of the book, ap- 
pears to have been consistent throughout. He 
ends in xii. 8 with the same refrain, Vanity of 
vanities ; all is vanity! In a divine library like 
the Old Testament, reflecting every side of 
human thought and experience, such a book 
is not inappropriate. Its contradictions pro- 
voke thought; they beget also a true appre- 
ciation of the positive notes thus brought into 
dramatic contrast with the ground tones of pes- 
simism which resound through all literature and 
history. 



XII 

THE HISTORY OF THE PSALTER 



XII 

THE HISTORY OF THE PSALTER 

Corresponding to the book of Proverbs, Nature of 
itself a select library containing Israel's best 
gnomic literature, is the Psalter, the compen- 
dium of the nation's lyrical songs and hymns 
and prayers. It is the record of the soul ex- 
periences of the race. Its language is that of 
the heart, and its thoughts of common interest 
to worshipful humanity. It reflects almost every 
phase of religious feeling: penitence, doubt, re- 
morse, confession, fear, faith, hope, adoration, 
and praise. Even the unlovely emotion of 
hatred is frankly expressed in certain of the 
imprecatory psalms. The Psalms appeal to 
mankind in every age and land because, 
being so divine and yet so human, they rest 
on the foundations of universal experience. 
Whenever a heart is breaking with sorrow or 
pulsating with thanksgiving and adoration, its 
strongest emotions find adequate expression in 
the simple and yet sublime language of the 
Psalter. 



192 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Influence of In the familiar doings of Mary and Zacharias, 
upon it* l€ $ found in the opening chapters of Luke, we may 
trace the beginnings of the hymn literature of 
the early Christian Church, a literature which 
later became one of the Church's most valued 
possessions. If the canon of the New Testament 
had been closed in 1000 instead of 400 A. D., 
its books would doubtless have included a hym- 
nal which would have corresponded closely to 
the Psalter of the Old. Just as the Psalms rep- 
resent the application of the great doctrines of 
the Hebrew prophets in the spiritual life of the 
community, so this new hymnal would repre- 
sent the personal application of the teachings of 
Jesus and the apostles to the religious life of 
the Church and the individual. The Psalter is 
also what it is because its background is a period 
of stress and severe trial. In the hot furnace of 
affliction and persecution the psalmists learned 
to appreciate the truths which they so confi- 
dently and effectively proclaim. Then the 
spiritual teachings of the earlier prophets, which 
were contemptuously rejected by their contem- 
poraries, were at last appropriated by the com- 
munity. The Psalter as a whole appears, there- 
fore, to be one of the latest and most precious 
fruits of the divine revelation recorded in the 
Old Testament. 



The History of the Psalter 19S 

In its present form, the Psalter is divided into Evidence of 
five books or collections. At the end of each i ect i ons f 
collection there is a concluding doxology (xli., P salms 
lxxii., lxxxix., cvi). The last psalm (cl.) serves 
as a concluding doxology, not only to the fifth 
collection, but also to the Psalter as a whole. 
Certain psalms are also reproduced in two dif- 
ferent collections with only slight variations. 
For example, xiv. is practically identical with 
liii., except that in the first Jehovah is always 
used as the designation of the Deity, and in liii. 
Elohim or God; again Psalm xl. 13-17 is repro- 
duced in lxx. ; lvii. 7-11 and lx. 5-12 are to- 
gether practically equivalent to cviii. These 
and kindred facts indicate that the Psalter, like 
the book of Proverbs, is made up of collections 
originally distinct. The division into exactly 
five groups appears to be comparatively late, 
and to be in imitation of the fivefold division 
of the Pentateuch. 

The genesis of the book of Proverbs is ex- The oldest 
ceedingly helpful in tracing the closely analo- °° 
gous growth of the Psalter. The prevailing 
form of the superscriptions and the predominant 
use of the name Jehovah or Elohim also aid 
in this difficult task. Psalms i. and ii. are 
introductory to the entire book. Psalms iii- 
xli. all bear the Davidic superscription and 
13 



194 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

use the designation Jehovah two hundred and 
seventy-two times, but Elohim only fifteen. The 
form and contents of these psalms, as well as 
their position, suggest that they are the oldest 
collection in the book. In the Greek version all 
the psalms of the collection found in li-lxxii., 
excepting Psalm lxvi., which is anonymous, 
and lxxii., which is attributed to Solomon, have 
also the Davidic superscription. Although cer- 
tain subsequent psalms are ascribed to David, 
as, for example, lxxxvi., ci., and ciii., the close 
of the collection is the significant epilogue 
(lxxii. 20), the prayers of David the son of Jesse 
are ended. 
Meaning Before the approximate date of these col- 

th? super? lections can be determined the significance of 
acriptions the Davidic title needs interpretation. In the 
Hebrew version this title is borne by seventy- 
three psalms. Two are ascribed to Solomon 
(lxxii. and cxxvii.), one to Moses (xc), and 
twenty-four to the members of the post-exilic 
guilds of temple singers. The superscriptions 
of the Greek and Syrian versions contain many 
variations from those in the Hebrew. This is 
probably due to the fact that superscriptions are 
usually added by later scribes in whose minds 
the question of authorship first became promi- 
nent. In earlier Hebrew the phrase commonly 



The History of the Psalter 195 

translated Psalm of David would more naturally 
mean a psalm for David or dedicated or attrib- 
uted to David. The latter appears to have been 
its original significance. Like the title, Prov- 
erbs of Solomon, it was used to distinguish 
an ancient poem, which, being a psalm, was 
naturally ascribed to David, and to him later 
Judaism, in common with the New Testament 
writers, attributed all psalm literature. A de- 
tailed study of the superscriptions soon demon- 
strates that the majority of them represent only 
the conjectures of scribes who were guided by 
current traditions or suggestions embodied in 
the psalms themselves. In this manner, to 
Solomon, the builder of the temple, is ascribed 
Psalm cxxvii., because it refers to the building 
of the house in its opening verse. The Greek 
version even attributes to David Psalm xcvi., 
which, it states, was written when the temple was 
being built after the captivity. 

Since the superscriptions to the Psalter were David's re- 
only very late additions, the question still re- pSer° the 
mains, What was the basis of the late Jewish 
tradition that makes David the father of the 
psalm literature, as was Solomon of the wisdom, 
Moses of the legal, and Enoch of the apocalyp- 
tical ? The other Old Testament books give no 
direct answer. They tell us, however, that the 



196 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

warrior king was skilled in playing the lyre, 
and we are aware that to this, in antiquity, an 
improvised accompaniment was usually sung. 
We also have the account of David's touching 
elegies over the death of Saul and Jonathan and 
of Abner (II Sam. i., iii. 33, 34). Moreover, 
the early historical books vividly portray the 
faults of David, the limitations which he shared 
in common with his contemporaries, and his 
deeply religious spirit; but they leave the 
question of his relation to the Psalter to be 
settled by the testimony of the individual 
psalms. Here the evidence is not conclusive. 
It is clear that many of the psalms attributed 
by tradition to him were written in the clearer 
light of later prophetic teaching and amid very 
different circumstances from those which sur- 
rounded Israel's early king. Still it would be 
dogmatic to assert that nothing from his lips is 
to be found in the Psalter; and to point out 
with assurance those passages and psalms which 
must be Davidic is quite as unwarrantable. 
Evidence of The Psalter is clearly the repository of that 

pre-exilic . . .. _ _._ 

elements in which was best in the earlier spiritual life and 
thought of the race. While there are no direct 
references to songs in connection with the pre- 
exilic Jewish temple, Amos (v. 23) found them 
in use at the sanctuary at Bethel; and from 



The History of the Psalter 197 

Psalm cxxxvii. 3, 4 it would appear that the 
exiles in Babylonia were acquainted with certain 
songs of Zion or songs of Jehovah. Treasured in 
the hearts of the people, and attributed, perhaps 
even by the time of the exile, as a whole to 
David, they constituted the basis of the earliest 
collections of psalms, which, as we have noted, 
practically without exception bear the Davidic 
superscription. The date of each individual 
psalm, however, must be determined independ- 
ently on the basis of its own testimony, although 
the historical allusions are few and the data in 
many cases axe far from decisive. 

Just when the earliest collections, found in Approxi- 
iii.-xli. and li.-lxxii., were made is a compar- Se'«ar/{«t 
atively unimportant yet difficult question to de- col ^ ctw ^ s 
cide. Probably the rebuilding of the temple 
in 516 B. c. was one of the great incen- 
tives. The example of the Babylonians, who 
possessed a large and rich psalm literature, 
may also have exerted an indirect influ- 
ence. At least it is certain that the guilds of 
temple singers and the song service became 
increasingly prominent in the religious life of 
the Jewish community which grew up about 
the restored temple. The presence of alpha- 
betical psalms, as, for example, ix., x., xxv., 
xxxiv., xxxvii., in the earliest collection sug- 



198 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

gests also the leisure of the exile. The historical 
background of many of these psalms is clearly 
the exile and the long period of distress that 
followed. They voice the experiences of the 
poor, struggling band of the pious, who, living 
in the midst of oppressors, found in Jehovah 
alone their refuge and their joy. Some of these 
psalms also reflect the prophetic teachings of 
Jeremiah (e. g., xvi., xxxix) and of Isaiah xl.- 
lxvi. In general their attitude toward sacrifice 
is that of the prophets : 

For thou desirest not sacrifice ; 
Else would I give it. 
Thou delightest not in burnt offering. 
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; 
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou 
wilt not despise. 

Religion is defined in the terms of life and acts. 
Ceremonialism has not yet cast its chilling in- 
fluence over the heart of the nation. Therefore 
the earliest collections may, with considerable 
assurance, be assigned to a date not later than 
the days of Nehemiah (about 400 B. c). 
Later Psalms xlii.-l. and lxxiii.-lxxxiii. constitute 

a collection of Levitical hymns. If we may fol- 
low the indications of their superscriptions, they 
consist of two originally distinct groups, the one, 
xlii.-xlix., associated with and possibly at first 



collections 



The History of the Psalter 199 

collected and preserved by the post-exilic guild 
of temple singers, known as the sons of Korah, 
and the other, 1., lxxiii.-lxxxiii., similarly at- 
tributed to Asaph, the guild of temple singers, 
mentioned first in the writings of the Greek 
period. In these two groups the priests and 
Levites and the liturgy are prominent. Psalms 
lxxxiv.-lxxxix. constitute a short Levitical sup- 
plement. The remainder of the Psalter is also 
made up of originally smaller collections, as, 
for example, the Psalms of Ascent or the Pil- 
grim Psalms (cxx.-cxxxiv.), and the Hallelujah 
Psalms (cxi.-cxiii. and cxlvi.-cl.). Some of the 
latter come perhaps from the Jews of the dis- 
persion. Each collection appears to represent 
a fresh gleaning of the same or slightly differ- 
ent fields, incorporating ancient with contem- 
porary psalms, and, as has been noted, not 
infrequently including some already found in 
earlier collections. 

Certain of the psalms, such as lxxiv., lxxix., Completion 
lxxxiii., seem clearly to reflect the horrors of %lJ[ ter 
the Maccabean struggle (169-165 B. a). Later 
Jewish literature bears testimony that in the 
last two centuries before Christ psalm writing 
increased rather than decreased (cf. e. g., Psalms 
of Solomon). Certainly the experiences through 
which the Jews passed during the middle of the 



200 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

second century were of a nature to evoke psalms 
similar to those in the Psalter. The prob- 
abilities, therefore, are that the Psalter, in its 
final form, is, like the book of Daniel, one of 
the latest writings in the Old Testament. It 
was possibly during the prosperous reign of 
Simon, when the temple service was enriched 
and established on a new basis, that its canon 
was finally closed. 
The book of The fact that they all gather about a definite 
tions event in Israel's history, and probably antedate 

the majority of the psalms in the Psalter, ex- 
plains why the little collection of lyrical poems, 
known as the book of Lamentations, never found 
a place beside the kindred psalms (e.g., Pss. xlii., 
xliii) in the larger book. Their theme is the 
Babylonian exile and the horrors and distress 
that it brought to the scattered members of the 
Jewish race. Their aim is prophetic, that is, 
to point out and confess the guilt of the nation 
and its dire consequences. They reflect the 
teachings of both Jeremiah and Ezekiel. While 
it is not strange that later tradition attributed 
the collection to the first of these prophets, its 
contents do not support the conjecture. Four 
out of the five poems are alphabetical, and dis- 
tinctly different points of view are represented. 
Chapters ii. and iv. probably come from the 



The History of the Psalter 201 

middle of the Babylonian exile, and to the 
remainder must be assigned a still later period. 

The Psalter, with its natural appendix, the The national 
book of Lamentations, was the song and prayer v id U al eie- 
book of the Jewish community. A majority ^^tter *** 
of the psalms, and especially those in the latter 
part of the book, were doubtless originally in- 
tended for liturgical use. Many, particularly 
where the first person singular is used, are to be 
interpreted collectively, for here, as often in the 
book of Lamentations, the psalmist is speaking 
in behalf of the community. Others have been 
adapted to liturgical ends. But in the final an- 
alysis it is the experience and emotions of the 
individual soul that find expression throughout 
all the psalms. Since these experiences and 
emotions were shared in common by all right- 
minded members of the community, it was 
natural that they should in time be employed 
in the liturgy. 

Again, as we review the history of the Psalter, E pluribus 
we are impressed with the many sides of Israel's 
life and human experience that it represents. 
Not one, but perhaps fifty or a hundred, inspired 
souls, laymen, prophets, priests, sages, kings, 
and warriors, have each clothed the divine truth 
that came to them or to their generation in 
exquisite language and imagery, and given it 



202 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

thus to their race and humanity. Successive 
editors have collected and combined the noblest 
of these psalms, and the Psalter is the result. 
The exact date of each psalmist and editor is 
comparatively unimportant, for though differ- 
ing widely in origin and theme, they are all 
bound together by a common purpose and a 
common belief in the reality and the immediate 
presence of God. All nature and history and 
life are to them but the manifestation of his 
justice and mercy and love. In direct com- 
munion with the God whom they personally 
knew, they found the consolation and peace 
and joy that passeth all understanding, even 
though the heathen raged and their foes plun- 
dered and taunted them. To that same haven 
of rest they still pilot the world's storm-tossed 
mariners. 



xin 

THE FORMATION OF THE OLD 
TESTAMENT CANON 



XIII 

THE FORMATION OF THE OLD 
TESTAMENT CANON 

Could we have studied the scriptures of Israel's lit- 
the Israelitish race about 400 B. c, we should the begin- 
have classified them under four great divisions : n f^rthLn- 
(1) The prophetic writings, represented by the *"',# . b f ore 
combined early Judean, Ephraimite, and late 
prophetic or Deuteronomic narratives, and their 
continuation in Samuel and Kings, together 
with the earlier and exilic prophecies; (2) the 
legal, represented by the majority of the Old 
Testament laws, combined with the late priestly 
history; (3) the wisdom, represented by the 
older small collections of proverbs; (4) the 
devotional or liturgical, represented by Lamen- 
tations and the earlier collections of psalms. 

Even before all the Old Testament books The combin- 
were written, the work of canonization began ; prophetic 
before the first large canon was adopted, the fof t( £™ stly 
prophetic and priestly narratives, and with them 
the earlier and later laws, were combined. This 
amalgamation was the work of a late priestly 



206 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

editor. The Pentateuch and its immediate se- 
quel, Joshua, is the result. 
The method A study of these books makes clear the edi- 
of combing tor , g method> Natu rally he gave the late priestly 
versions the precedence. He placed, therefore, 
its version of the creation first, — a position that 
it well deserves. Probably as a result of this 
arrangement the older and more primitive pro- 
phetic version of Genesis ii. 4a-25 was somewhat 
abridged, for it begins with the picture of a level 
plain, watered by a daily mist, and is immedi- 
ately followed by the account of the creation of 
man. Genesis iii. and iv. are taken entirely from 
the prophetic, and practically all of v. from the 
priestly, group of narratives. Confronted by 
two variant versions of the flood, he joined 
them together into a closely knit narrative ; but 
all the elements of both versions are so faithfully 
preserved that when they are again separated, 
behold ! the two originally complete and self- 
consistent versions reappear. The story of Noah, 
the first vineyard-keeper, in ix. 20-27, is taken 
entirely from the prophetic history, but in x. 
two distinct lists of the nations are joined to- 
gether. All the story of the tower of Babel in 
xi. 1-9 is from the prophetic, while the gene- 
alogical list in the remainder of the chapter is 
from the priestly history. The patriarchal and 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 207 

subsequent narratives are likewise combined 
with the same remarkable skill. 

Thus the first six Old Testament books were Later 
given their final form. The method in general analogies 
was the same as that followed by the authors of 
the First and Third Gospels in their use of Mat- 
thew's Sayings of Jesus and the original Mark 
narrative, or by the authors of Samuel, Kings, 
and Chronicles in their citations from the older 
sources. In his close fusion of three or four 
parallel narratives the editor's work resembled 
most closely that of Tatian, who thus combined 
the four Gospels in his Diatessaron. So far as 
we are able to observe, the final editor of the 
Hexateuch preserved, like Tatian, most of the 
material in his older sources, except where a 
parallel version verbally duplicated another. 
The prophetic and priestly narratives also fol- 
lowed lines so distinctly different that cases of 
duplication were comparatively few. 

To the latest editor of the early narratives we Deep signifi- 
owe the preservation of some of the oldest and ™or\ lf tn l 
most valuable sections of the Old Testament. later editors 
In that age and land of perishable writing 
materials, the prevailing method of compilation 
w T as one of the effective means whereby the 
important portions of primitive records were 
handed down in practically their original form. 



208 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

It is well that we are beginning to understand 
its significance in the realization of the divine 
purpose. Important beyond words, although 
often overlooked, were the services of the faith- 
ful editors who without the slightest desire for 
personal glory or reward, other than the per- 
petuation of truth, carefully selected, condensed, 
and combined material gleaned from earlier and 
fuller sources. To them is due the marvellous 
preservation of our Old Testament. To the hon- 
ored role of the prophets and apostles, therefore, 
let us add the anonymous redactors. 
Date of the The final editors were the immediate pre- 
thTcanonifa- cursors of those who formed the successive 
uon of the canons f the Old Testament. Indeed, between 

Law ' 

the work of the former and the latter there is 
no clear line of demarcation. A period shortly 
after 400 b. c. is the date usually accepted 
for the work of the final editor of the Penta- 
teuch; the canonization of the law, which in- 
cluded these five books, is dated between 400 
and 300 B. c. The real canonization of Israel's 
laws had, however, begun much earlier. The 
primitive decalogue, represented by Exodus 
xxxiv., and probably from the first associated 
with Moses, appears, in the earliest periods of 
Israel's history, to have enjoyed a canonical 
authority. The primitive accounts, in Exo- 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 209 

dus xix., of the establishment of the covenant 
by Jehovah with his people mark the real 
beginning of the process of canonization, — a 
process, that is, of attributing to certain laws 
a unique and commanding authority. 

Likewise the successive civil, humane, and Popular 

. , , , - ,11 acceptance 

ceremonial decalogues appear irom the days an d promul- 
of the united kingdom to have occupied a simi- ^rUer°£des 
lar position. Primarily this was probably due 
to the fact that each was based upon a divine 
tor ah or decision, received from Jehovah through 
the priestly oracle. The public reading and 
promulgation of the Deuteronomic laws in the 
days of Josiah, with the attestation of the 
prophets and the solemn adoption by the people, 
was an act of canonization far more formal than 
the final acceptance of the New Testament 
writings by the Council of Carthage. 

The next great stage in the canonization of Adoption of 
the law is recorded in Nehemiah x. Then the priestly law 
representatives of the Jewish community entered 
into a solemn obligation and took oath to walk in 
God's law, which was given by Moses the servant 
of God, and to observe to do all the commands of 
Jehovah our Lord and his ordinances and his 
statutes (v. 29.) This action appears to be the 
historical basis of the fanciful and incredible 
Jewish traditions concerning the work of the 
14 



210 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Acceptance 
of the 
completed 
Torah 



Great Synagogue and the authority of Ezra. 
The new law thus adopted was evidently the one 
gradually developed and finally formulated by the 
Jewish priests in Babylonia. It was accepted, 
as was the earlier Deuteronomic code, because 
it met the needs and appealed to the moral 
and religious sense of those by whom it was 
adopted. 

To set completely aside the Deuteronomic law- 
book and the primitive decalogue of Exodus xx.- 
xxiii., already in force among the Jews of Pales- 
tine, was impossible and unnecessary. Hence, as 
we have noted, it was the task of some editor of 
the next generation to combine these and the 
earlier prophetic histories with the late priestly 
law and its accompanying history. Naturally 
this whole collection was still called the Torah 
or Law and was at once accepted as canonical 
by the Jews. This step was also most natural 
because their interests all centred about the 
ritual, and for two centuries the dominant 
tendency had been to exalt the sanctity of the 
written law. 

It is possible to fix approximately the date of 
mtimoftL this first edition of the Old Testament writings, 
Law since the Samaritans adopted and still retain 

simply the Pentateuch and an abbreviated edi- 
tion of Joshua as their scriptures. Although 



Date of the 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 211 

Josephus, following a late Jewish tradition, 
dates the Samaritan schism at abont 330 B. c., 
the contemporary evidence of Nehemiah xiii. 
28 suggests that it was not long after 400. It 
is therefore safe to conclude that by 350 B c. 
the first five books of our Old Testament had 
not only been singled out of the larger literature 
of the race, but were regarded as possessing a 
unique sanctity and authority. 

As the name Law suggests, the chief reason Principles 
for this was the fact that these five books em- iation° n 
bodied laws long since accepted as binding. The 
second reason was probably because they were 
by current tradition ascribed to Moses. The 
third, and not the least, was, doubtless, because 
they met the need felt by the community for a 
unified and authoritative system of laws and for 
an authentic record of the earlier histoiy of 
their race, especially that concerning the origin 
of their beloved institutions. 

The priority of the canon of the law is also Evidence 
proved by the fact that, although it contains w £ s ^ st atl 
some of the later Old Testament writings, it canonized 
stands first, not only in position but in the 
esteem of the Jewish race. Furthermore, it 
became in time the designation of all the Old 
Testament canonical writings. The term Law 
is thus used in the New Testament (e.#., John x. 



212 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



Canoniza- 
tion of the 
prophetic 
writings 



34, xii. 34 ; I Cor. xiv. 21), in the Talmud, and 
by the rabbis, indicating that the later groups 
of historical, prophetic, and poetical books were 
simply regarded as supplements. 

The history of the canonization of the next 
group, known as the Prophets, is very obscurely 
recorded, and this largely because it reached 
its culmination in the Greek period, concerning 
which we have only the most meagre informa- 
tion. Here analogy with the history of the 
New Testament is helpful. The same influences 
which led the early Christians to add the Epis- 
tles and Acts undoubtedly operated upon the 
minds of the Jews. The Law represented only 
a limited period in their national and religious 
history. But the addition of the early prophetic 
and legal histories to the detailed laws prepared 
the way for the expansion of the canon. This 
included first, the four historical books, Joshua, 
Judges, Samuel, and Kings, with the exception 
of Ruth. These were designated as the Former 
Prophets. Thus even the later Jews recog- 
nized their true character and authorship. The 
second division of the Prophets included Isaiah, 
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve, 
which contained the minor prophets. 

The order of the book and the probabili- 
ties of the situation suggest that the Former 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 213 

Prophets, since they were the immediate sequel Evidence 
of the prophetic histories of the Pentateuch, twico-pro-*' 
and recorded the deeds of such heroes as David, Jjjj/Sra?** 
Solomon, and Isaiah, were added first. That added to 

the Law 

they also bear the marks of late priestly revision, 
is direct evidence of the esteem in which they 
were held by the late priestly school that com- 
pleted the canon of the Law. They therefore 
may have been added as early as 300 B. c. 
They were certainly known to the author of 
Chronicles, as his many quotations from them 
show, although it is difficult to see how he 
would have felt as free as he does to substitute 
the testimony of later tradition, if they were 
regarded as equally sacred with the Law. 

The reference to the prediction of Jeremiah, Reverence 
in the opening verse of Ezra, suggests the rev- p°[ e tic word 
erence with which the author of Chronicles 
regarded the words of this prophet. The post- 
exilic Jews never ceased to revere the prophetic 
word. The popular belief, current in the Greek 
period, that the prophets had ceased to speak 
only deepened their reverence for the teachings 
of Moses' successors (Deut. xviii. 15-19). The 
devotion of the later scribes is evinced by the 
scores of glosses which they have added to 
the older prophecies. It is manifest, there- 
fore, how strong was the tendency, even in 



214 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

priestly circles, to add the Prophets to the 
Law. 
Date of com- The process was probably gradual and perhaps 

pletion of mix -i -i i -tru 

the prophetic not complete until the J ews had learned iully 
to appreciate the value of their ancient Scrip- 
tures, after martyrs had died for the sacred 
writings during the Maccabean struggle. Aside 
from supplements made to older books, as, for 
example, Zechariah ix.-xiv., the canon of the 
prophets was probably closed not later than 
200 b. c. From direct evidence it is clear that 
the book of Daniel (written about 165 B. c.) did 
not find a place in this canon. It is also sig- 
nificant that in the prologue to the Greek ver- 
sion of Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus (132 B. c.) 
the translator refers repeatedly — as though 
they were then regarded as of equal authority 
— to the Law and the Prophets and the rest of 
the books, or to the other books of the fathers. 
But most significant of all, Ben Sira, who wrote 
about 190 B. c, includes in his list of Israel's 
heroes (xliv.-l.) not only those mentioned in the 
Tor ah, but also David, Solomon, Hezekiah, and 
the chief characters in the Former Prophets. 
Furthermore, Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel 
are introduced in their proper settings, and the 
panegyric closes with a reference to the twelve 
prophets collectively, indicating that Ben Sira 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 215 

was also acquainted with the Latter Prophets 

as a group. 

The reference to the rest of the books in the The begin- 

prologue to Ben Sira indicates that even before fat staged 

130 B. c. certain other writings had been joined Jj&SST*" 

to the canon of the Law. Ben Sira himself, 0ld Testa- 
ment 
to judge from his description of David (cf. 

xlvii. 8, 9, and I Chron. 25), Zerubbabel, Joshua, 

and Nehemiah, was acquainted with the books 

of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Chapter 

xlvii. 8 apparently contains an allusion to a 

hymn-book attributed to David. Evidently he 

was also familiar with the book of Proverbs, 

including its introductory chapters. Thus we 

have a glimpse of the beginning of that third 

stage in the canonization of the Old Testament 

which, as in the case of the New, continued for 

fully three centuries. 

The Psalter doubtless passed through differ- Canoniza- 

ent stages of canonization, as did the Old Psalter and 

Testament itself. The earliest collection was, £. amenta - 

1 twns 

in the beginning, probably made for liturgical 
purposes, and its adoption in the service of the 
temple was practically equivalent to canoniza- 
tion. When successive collections were added, 
they too were thus canonized. The result was 
that the Psalter, when complete, enjoyed a posi- 
tion somewhat similar to that of the Law and the 



216 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Prophets, although the authority of each rested 
upon a different basis. That the Psalter was 
early canonized is further demonstrated by a 
quotation in I Maccabees vii. 17 (about 125 
B. c.) from Psalm lxxix. 2, 3, introduced by 
the words, as it is written in the Scriptures. 
This conclusion is also supported by the sig- 
nificant reference in the New Testament to 
the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Lk. 
xxiv. 44). Jesus' use of the Psalter indicates 
that in his day its canonicity was already thor- 
oughly established. Lamentations, by a late 
tradition attributed to Jeremiah, was probably 
also canonized contemporaneously with the 
Psalms. 
The other The canonization of the book of Proverbs, like 

fath $ erf the that of the Psalter, was undoubtedly by succes- 
sive stages. The Jews of the Greek and Mac- 
cabean period were especially appreciative of this 
type of literature, and it was doubtless accorded 
its position of authority primarily because it rang 
true to human experience. That it was attrib- 
uted to Solomon also told in its favor. Ben 
Sira's indirect testimony suggests that it and the 
books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, which 
were in close accord with the point of view of 
later Judaism, were already in his day associated 
with the Law and the Prophets. The book of 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 217 

Ruth was probably at this time added to the 
other historical books. 

The absence of any reference in Ben Sira CanonUa- 
to Daniel is significant. The first allusion to it & ° £ J f 
comes from the last half of the second century Damel 
before Christ. First Maccabees i. 54 appears to 
quote the prediction of Daniel ix. 27, and in 
I Maccabees ii. 59, 60, Daniel and his three 
friends are held up as noble examples of virtue. 
Thus it would seem that within a half century 
after the book of Daniel was written its authority 
was recognized. In New Testament times its 
canonicity is fully established (e. g., cf. I Cor. 
vi. 2, and Dan. vii. 22). 

Concerning the canonicity of two books, Date of the 
Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs or Canticles, the^ebrew 
the opinions of the rabbis continued to differ 0ld Testa - 

^ ment canon 

until the close of the first Christian century. 
From the Mishna we learn that the school of 
Shammai accepted Ecclesiastes, while that of 
Hillel rejected it. Finally, in a conference in 
Jamnia, about 100 A. d., the two schools finally 
agreed to accept both books as canonical. 
From Second Esdras and Josephus, however, we 
learn that the present Hebrew and Protestant 
canon of the Old Testament had already for 
some time been practically adopted by common 
consent. 



218 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Contents of The last collection, which includes eleven 
qroup of books known as the Hagiographa or Sacred 
writings Writings, constitutes the third general division 
of the Hebrew Scriptures. It is a heterogeneous 
group of histories, prophecies, stories, and wis- 
dom books. Some, like the Psalter, were, as 
we have seen, probably canonized as early as 
the Prophets; although the final canon of the 
Old Testament was not closed until 100 A. d. 
Even later the canonicity of Ecclesiastes, the 
Song of Songs, and Esther was sometimes ques- 
tioned ; most of them were regarded as authori- 
tative as early as 100 B. c. Here, as in the case 
of the New Testament, the real decision was not 
the work of any school or council ; but gradu- 
ally, on the basis of their intrinsic merit, the 
twenty-four books of the Hebrew Bible were 
singled out of a much larger literature and 
recognized, at least by the Jews of Palestine, as 
the authoritative record of God's revelation 
through their race. 
Differences Jewish tradition, represented by Second Esdras 
Palestinian X ^ Y - an d ^ ne Talmudic treatise Baba Bathra xv. a, 
and Akxan- s t a tes that all the canonical books were in ex- 

drian 

canons istence in the time of Ezra. While the tradition 
is refuted by the historical facts, it appears to 
have influenced the Jews of Palestine in shaping 
their canon ; since no books purporting to come 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 219 

from a later date or author are found in it. The 
broader-minded Jews of the dispersion, and es- 
pecially Alexandria and the early Christian 
Church, refused to be bound by the narrow prin- 
ciple that divine revelation ceased with Ezra. 
Accordingly we find them adopting a larger 
canon, that included many other later writings 
known in time as the apocryphal or hidden 
books. 

These consisted of three genuine works, — I Additional 
and II Maccabees and Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus ; Grelkand 
two didactic stories, — Tobit and Judith ; four Christmn 

' ' canon 

books wrongly ascribed to earlier authors, — the 
Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch, the Epistle of 
Jeremy, and Second Esdras (Gk. IV Esdras) ; 
and four additions to the Hebrew canonical 
books, — First Esdras, an expansion of the book 
of Ezra, the Prayer of Manasses, and additions 
to Esther and Daniel. 

As is well known, these books were retained History of 
by the Christian Church, as they still are by the ryphaT books 
Roman Catholic and Greek churches, until the {Vn^hurch 
Protestant reformers relegated them, as a whole, 
to a secondary place. Ultimately the Bible 
societies, during the first part of the last cen- 
tury, ceased to print them in the ordinary 
editions of the Bible. The result is that the 
present generation has almost forgotten their 



220 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

existence. The last decade or two, however, 
has witnessed a significant revival of interest 
among the scholars of Christendom, and the 
wholesome tendency to restore certain of the 
Apocrypha to the working Old Testament canon 
is very marked. This is only a correction of 
the error of the Protestant reformers in esti- 
mating the Apocryphal books, not by the in- 
trinsic merit of each individual writing but of 
the group as a whole. 
Great value Some of the Apocrypha and kindred books, 
Jewish l er like the apocalypse of Enoch, were quoted and 
writings recognized by New Testament scholars as having 
authority equal to that of the other Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures. The rejection of I and II 
Maccabees and Ben Sira from the Palestinian 
canon because they were written after the days 
of Ezra and not associated with the names of 
any early Old Testament worthies, was due 
to a narrow conception of divine revelation, 
directly contrary to that of Christianity which 
recognized the latest as the noblest. These 
later Jewish writings also bridge the two 
centuries which otherwise yawn between the 
two Testaments — two centuries of superlative 
importance both historically and religiously, 
witnessing as they do the final development of 
the life and thought of Judaism and the rise 



Formation of the Old Testament Canon 221 

of those conditions and beliefs which loom so 
large in the New Testament. 

While they will always be of great value in The larger 

J J . working 

the study of later Jewish history, literature, and canon of 
religion, the majority of the apocryphal books Testament 
undoubtedly belong in the secondary group to 
which the Palestinian Jews and the Protestant 
reformers assigned them. Three or four, how- 
ever, tested by the ultimate principles of canon- 
icity, are equal, if not superior, to certain books 
like Chronicles, Esther, and Ecclesiastes. First 
Maccabees records one of the most important 
crises in Israelish history. As a faithful his- 
torical writing, it is hardly equalled in ancient 
literature. Its spirit is also genuinely religious. 
The later but parallel history of II Macca- 
bees is not the equal of the first, although its 
religious purpose is more pronounced. Its his- 
torical character, style, aim, and point of view 
are strikingly similar to those of the book of 
Chronicles. The proverbs of Ben Sira, while 
not all of the same value, yet abound in noble 
and practical teachings, very similar to those 
in the book of Proverbs. Not only does the 
Wisdom of Solomon contain many exalted and 
spiritual passages, but it is also of unique im- 
portance because it represents that wonderful 
fusion of the best elements in Hebrew and 



222 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Hellenic thought which formed the background 
of Christianity. Probably the Church will ulti- 
mately restore to its larger working Old Testa- 
ment canon the beautiful Prayer of Manasses, 
already largely adopted in the prayer-book of 
the Anglican Church. 
Conclusion Our rapid historical study has revealed the 
unity and the variety of teaching reflected in the 
Old Testament, and has suggested its real place 
in the revelation of the past and its true place 
in the life of to-day. This older testament is 
the record of God's gradual revelation of him- 
self through the history of the Israelitish race 
and the experiences and minds of countless men 
and women whose spiritual eyes were open and 
whose ears were attentive to divine truth. The 
same benign Father who has always spoken 
to his children has influenced them also to 
recognize the writings that most faithfully and 
fully record the spiritual truth thus revealed. 
Had the task been entrusted to our own or later 
generations, it is not probable that the result 
would have differed in any important essential. 
For a few brief centuries false theories and 
traditions may partially obscure the truth, but 
these, like the mists of morning, are sure in 
time to melt away and reveal the eternal veri- 
ties in their sublime beauty and grandeur. 



XIV 

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE 

EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE 

OLD TESTAMENT 



XIV 

THE INTERPRETATION OF THE 

EARLY NARRATIVES OF THE 

OLD TESTAMENT 

Of all the different groups of writings in the Importance 
Old Testament, undoubtedly the early narra- ^ch^lry" 9 
tives found in the first seven books present the as a umt 
most perplexing problems. This is primarily 
due to the fact that they have been subject to 
a long process of editorial revision by which 
stories, some very old and others very late and 
written from a very different point of view, 
have been closely joined together. While there 
is a distinct aim and unity in the whole, in 
approaching them it is simplest to study each 
story as a unit in itself. Not only is this prac- 
tical, but it is justified by the fact that almost 
every story was once current in independent 
form. Often, as in the case of the accounts of 
creation and the flood, it is possible to recover 
the older versions and even to trace their origin 
and earlier history. 

15 



view 



226 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Classified- The first essential, however, is to determine 
sary to the point of view and purpose of the biblical 
the^intof writer, who has taken the given story from the 
lips of his contemporaries and incorporated it in 
the cycle of stories in which it is now found. 
Here the language, literary style, theme, and 
conceptions of God and religion are the chief 
guides. If, as in the first chapter of Genesis, the 
Deity is always designated as God or Elohim ; 
if the literary style is formal, repetitious, and 
generic ; if the theme is the origin of an insti- 
tution like the Sabbath ; and if the Deity is con- 
ceived of as a spirit, accomplishing his purpose 
by progressive stages through the agency of 
natural forces, — it is not difficult to recognize 
at once the work of a late priestly writer. If, 
on the contrary, as in Genesis ii. 4b to iii. 24, 
Jehovah is the name of the Deity ; if the style is 
vivid, picturesque, and flowing; if the interest 
centres in certain individuals instead of spe- 
cies ; if the themes vitally concern the spiritual 
life of man ; if the Deity is conceived of after 
human analogies, as intimately associating with 
men, and as revealing himself directly to them 
by word and visible presence, — the work of an 
early prophetic writer is evidently before us. 

The identification of the point of view of the 
author at once puts us into appreciative sym- 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 227 
pathy with him. It also enables us intelligently Value of 

. knowing an 

to interpret his words and figures. Knowing, author's 

for example, that the first chapter of Genesis P ointo f mew 

was written by a priest who lived long after 

his race had ceased to think of God as having 

a body like a man, we cannot make the common 

mistake of interpreting verse 26 as implying 

physical likeness. Rather, as his conception of 

God as a spirit demands and the latter part of 

the verse proves, his sublime teaching is that 

man, the end and culmination of the entire 

work of creation, is like his Creator, a spiritual 

being, endowed with a mind and a will, and 

as God's viceregent, is divinely commanded to 

rule over all created things. 

Where two distinct versions of the same Practical 
narrative have been amalgamated in the process critical 
of editorial revision, the analysis of the original ana ysiS 
sources is indispensable to a true understanding 
and interpretation of the thought of the prophet 
and priest who have each utilized the ancient 
story, — as, for example, that of the flood, — to 
illustrate the inevitable consequences of sin and 
God's personal interest in mankind. Here the 
culminating purpose of the prophet, however, 
is to proclaim Jehovah's gracious promise that 
he will never thus again destroy man or living 
things; that (viii. 21,22): 



228 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

While the earth remains, 
Seedtime and harvest, 
Cold and heat, 
Summer and winter, 
Day and night 
Shall not cease. 

The priest, on the other hand, is interested 
in the renewal of the covenant which insures 
man's dominion over the natural world, and in 
the sanctity of blood, and in the primitive, 
divine origin of the command, Thou shalt not 
kill (ix. 1-6). 
The neces- Fortunately the work of analysis has been 
^intelligent so thoroughly carried out during the last cen- 
tion rpreta ~ ^ ur y ^at there is practical agreement among 
the Christian scholars of the world on the 
essential questions. These results are now also 
available in popular form, so that, without 
wasting time on technicalities, the pastor and 
teacher of to-day can utilize them as the basis 
for more important study and teaching. The 
origin, the literary form, and the scientific and 
historical accuracy of each narrative all suggest 
definite and interesting lines of study, but, 
as has been noted (p. 106), these are of second- 
ary value compared with the religious truths 
that each story is intended to illustrate. 

Since these stories were preserved because 
they conserve this higher purpose, it is always 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 229 

safe to ask, What are their distinctive contri- Principles of 

butions to the grand total of ethical and spir- urpretation 

itual teachiDg found in the Old Testament? 

At the same time it is exceedingly important 

always to be sure to read the teachings out of, 

and not into, a given narrative. By unnatural 

and fanciful interpretation of these simple stories 

the friends of the Bible in the past have often 

wronged it more than have its avowed foes. 

Each story, like the parables of Jesus, had its 

one or two central teachings, usually conveyed 

to the mind by implication rather than by direct 

statement. The characters who figure in them 

by their words and deeds proclaim the practical 

truths and embody the ideals in the minds of 

the ancient prophets and priests. 

The heterogeneous group of stories found in Theme of 

i-w-pYlPQ'iQ If 

Genesis i.-xi. constitute the general introduc- and Hi. 
tion to the succeeding narratives which gather 
about the names of the traditional ancestors 
of the Hebrews. Each of these originally in- 
dependent stories illustrates its own peculiar 
religious teachings. None has taken a deeper 
hold on the imagination and made a deeper im- 
pression on the thought and literature of the 
world than that which is found in the second 
and third chapters of Genesis. Its theme — 
the origin and nature and consequences of sin 



230 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 



The prob- 
lem of pre- 
senting it in 
a form in- 
telligible to 
early man 



Pictorial 
elements 
drawn from 
popular 
tradition 



— is of vital, personal interest to every man of 
every age. 

The problem that confronted the early Judean 
prophet was to present in form intelligible to 
the minds of his primitive readers a subject that 
has taxed to the utmost the resources of the 
world's greatest philosophers and theologians. 
The task was comparable to that which fell to 
the Master when he sought to make clear to his 
untutored disciples the real nature of the mighty 
tempest of temptation that raged in his soul at 
the beginning, and, indeed, later in his ministry. 
The method adopted was strikingly similar in 
each case. If the language of modern philos- 
ophy and psychology had been at the command 
of these great religious teachers, it would have 
but obscured the great truths. These truths 
must be made objective ; they must be expressed 
in the familiar language of the people. Even 
the inner struggle of conflicting motives must 
be presented in words so simple that a child 
could understand. 

The second and third chapters of Genesis 
record the effective way in which a great 
early prophet dealt with his difficult problem. 
From the lips of the people he took fragments 
of ancient Semitic traditions. Almost all of the 
elements which enter into the story of man's fall 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 231 

have been traced to far earlier sources ; but the 
narrative in its present unity and suggestiveness 
never has and never will be found outside the 
Bible. How far the prophet adapted to his 
higher purpose the current Hebrew version can 
not be absolutely determined. The fact alone 
remains that it is one of the truest bits of his- 
tory in the Old Testament, and this not because 
it is a leaf from the diary of Adam and Eve, 
but because it concretely and faithfully portrays 
universal human experience. 

In the simple language of popular tradition Creation of 
it proclaims, among other truths, that Jehovah, SenL nel 
Israel's God, created man, breathing into him e ^Zlo{ ment 
from his own nostrils the vital principle of 
life and making him the commanding figure in 
the universe ; then that the Creator graciously 
provided all that was needful and best for 
his true physical and spiritual development. 
Incidentally the prophet calls attention to that 
innate and divine basis of the marriage bond 
which Jesus re-emphasizes (Matt. xix. 4-6). 
Physical death, according to the story in its 
present form, was not a necessary part of 
Jehovah's plan; the implication is that man 
would not die while he remained in the garden 
and ate of the life-giving tree. Temptation is 
not in itself evil, but necessary, if man is to 



232 Origin and Value of the Old Testament • 

develop positive virtue, for beside the tree of 
life grows the tree of the knowledge of good 
and evil, with its attractive, alluring fruit 
guarded by the divine prohibition. 
The struggle The elements of the temptation are all pre- 
woman's sented. in chapter ii., but the serpent, the crafti- 
est of animals, in his conversation with the 
woman is required to make clear and objective 
the real nature of the conflict within her mind. 
The role of the serpent is the opposite of that 
of Balaam's ass, which figures in a story which 
comes from the same early Judean prophetic 
school. In the conversation between the woman 
and the serpent the true character of all temp- 
tation is revealed: it is the necessity of choos- 
ing between two courses of conduct neither of 
which is altogether bad. Curiosity, which is 
the guide to all knowledge, the beauty of the 
apple, which appeals to the aesthetic sense, and 
physical appetite, not in itself bad, — all these 
powerfully attracted the Oriental woman of the 
ancient story. On the other side she felt the 
compelling power of love and gratitude and 
the definite divine command. 
The essence The prophet saw clearly that all the elements 

of all j. . • i • 

temptation of temptation are withm man — a truth some- 
times obscured in later Jewish thought. Milton 
has also led us astray in identifying the crafty 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 233 

serpent with the Satan of later Judaism. The 
prophet graphically presents another great fact 
of human experience, namely, that what is one 
man's temptation is not another's, that the 
temptation to be real must appeal to the one 
tested. The crafty serpent is not represented 
as speaking to the man ; he would probably have 
turned away in loathing. His wife, she who had 
already sinned, the one whom Jehovah had given 
him as a helpmeet, herself appeals to the sense 
of chivalry within him. Hence the conflict 
rages in his soul between love and obligation 
to Jehovah and his natural affection and ap- 
parent duty to his wife. Thus in all tempta- 
tion the diviner impulses struggle with those 
which are not in themselves necessarily wrong 
but only baser by contrast. Duty is the call 
of the diviner, sin is the yielding to the baser, 
motives. 

The Hebrew word for sin, which means the The real 
missing of the mark set up before each indi- sin 
vidual, is the only altogether satisfactory defi- 
nition of sin ever devised, for it absolutely fits 
the facts of human experience. Deflection from 
the moral standard set up by each man's con- 
science, even though his resulting act seem in 
itself noble, is for him a sin. Although the 
influences which led the man and woman of 



234 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

the story to disobey were exceedingly strong, 
the higher standard had been set up, and in 
falling short of it they sinned. Thus sin is 
not God's but man's creation, and results from 
the deliberate choice of what the sinner knows 
to be wrong. 
The effects In the same simple yet powerful way the 
prophet depicts the inevitable consequences of 
sin. At every point the picture is true to uni- 
versal experience. The most appalling effect 
of a wrong act is that it destroys peace and 
purity of mind. It also makes cowards of brave 
men, and the presence and tender affection of 
the one wronged suddenly become intolerable. 
Sin also begets sin. To the cowering fugitives 
Jehovah comes, as he always does, with a mes- 
sage intended to evoke a frank confession which 
would tear down the hideous barrier that their 
sin had reared between himself and them; but, 
like most foolish, blind Adams and Eves, they 
hug their crime to their breasts and raise the 
barrier heaven high by trying to excuse their 
guilt. Thus they pronounce their own doom. 
For God himself only one course of action re- 
mains : it is to send them forth from his pres- 
ence and from the life-giving tree, out into the 
school of hardship and bitter pain, that there 
they may learn the lessons which are necessary 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 235 

before they can again become citizens of the 
true Garden of Eden. 

Two simple yet exceedingly significant touches The sequel 
lighten the gloom of this universal tragedy of ofman'sjall 
human life. The one is that for the guilty, un- 
repentant pair, Jehovah himself made tunics of 
skins to protect them from the inclemency of 
their new life, — evidence that his love and care 
still went with them. The other is the impli- 
cation that the true garden of Eden was still 
to be found on earth, and was closed simply to 
the guilty and unrepentant. The Bible is the 
record of how men learned the all-important 
lessons in the painful school of experience. 
Israel's teachers, each in his characteristic 
way, led their race on toward the common 
goal. The Gospels tell of how a man, tempted 
in all points as we are in a distant day and land 
found his way again into the abiding presence 
of God. He was one with the Father, not because 
he did not meet temptation in all its power, but 
because, unlike the actors in the primitive story, 
and all other participants in the drama of life, 
he yielded only to the guidance of divine im- 
pulses. Not content with achieving the goal 
himself, he gave his energies and his life to 
showing others how they also might overcome 
the baser impulses within them and find their 



236 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

way to God's presence and become one with 
him. Thus, because of what he did and said 
and was, he forever vindicated his title of 
Saviour of Mankind. 
Thereli- No other early Old Testament narrative is 

%w of other P erna ps so Ml °f r i cn spiritual suggestion as 
early stories the one just considered, and yet each has its 
valuable contribution. Even such a story as 
that of the killing of Abel by Cain forcibly 
teaches the great prophetic truth that it is not 
the form of the offering, but the character and 
deeds back of the sacrifice, that determine Je- 
hovah's favor or disfavor (iv. 7). Graphically 
it sets forth the spirit that prompts the great- 
est of crimes. In contrast to Cain, defiant yet 
pursued by haunting fear of vengeance, it also 
presents the divine tenderness and mercy in 
granting him a tribal mark to protect him from 
the hand of man. The similar story of Noah, 
the first vineyard-keeper, preaches the first 
temperance sermon in all literature, and also 
suggests the inevitable consequences of moral 
depravity so forcibly illustrated in the history 
of the ancient Canaanites. Even the prosaic 
table of the nations in Genesis x. emphasizes 
the conception of the unity of the human family 
which was destined in time to become the basis 
of Israel's belated missionary activity. 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 287 

When we pass to the twelfth chapter of Ideals pre- 
Genesis the independent stories coalesce into ear i y pro . 
cycles, and each cycle, as well as each narra-^ ! T r " 
tive, has its own religious purpose. In defi- Abraham 
nite outlines each successive group of teachers 
painted the character of Abraham, the tradi- 
tional father of the Israelitish race, and held 
it up before their own and succeeding genera- 
tions as a perpetual example and inspiration. 
In the early Judean prophetic narratives he is 
pictured as the friend of Jehovah. His own 
material interests are entirely secondary, as 
illustrated in his dealing with Lot. Without 
hesitation he leaves home and kindred behind, 
for his dominating purpose in life is simply to 
know and do the will of Jehovah. To this end 
he rears altars throughout the land of Canaan. 
His chief joy is in communion with God and 
in the promises to be realized in his descend- 
ants. Through warring, hostile Canaan he 
passes unscathed, for his eyes are fixed on 
things heavenly. 

It matters little whether or not, far back in Its signifi- 
the primitive days of Israel's history, a Bedouin c 
sheik anticipated in actual character and life all 
that was gradually revealed to the prophets of 
a much later age. The supremely significant 
fact is that the noble ideal of Israel's earliest 



238 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

teachers was thus vividly and concretely em- 
bodied in the portrait of him whom the Hebrews 
regarded with pride and adoration as the founder 
of their race. In Hosea and Jeremiah, and less 
imperfectly in the nation as a whole, the ideal 
in time became an historical reality. 
Later por- The early Ephraimite school of writers pic- 
Abraham ture Abraham as a prophet (Gen. xx. 7), and 
therefore as an exemplification of their highest 
ideal. In the remarkable fourteenth chapter of 
Genesis he is a courageous, chivalrous knight, 
attacking with a handful of followers the allied 
armies of the most powerful kings of his day. 
Returning victorious, he restores the spoil to 
the plundered and gives a princely gift to the 
priest of the local sanctuary. In the later 
priestly narratives the picture suddenly changes, 
and Abraham figures as the faithful servant of 
the law, with whom originates the rite of cir- 
cumcision, the seal of a new covenant (xvii.). 
Later Jewish and Moslem traditions each have 
their characteristic portrait. One, which pic- 
tures him as in heaven the protector of the 
faithful, is reflected in the New Testament 
(Luke xvi. 23-30). Thus each succeeding age 
and group of teachers made him the embodi- 
ment and supreme illustration of its noblest 
ideals, and it is this ideal element that gives 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 239 

the Old Testament stories their permanently 
practical value. 

Having noted the teachings that each indi- Practical 
vidual story and the cycle as a whole conveyed the Abraham 
to the minds of their first readers, it only re- stones 
mains for the teacher of to-day to translate 
them into modern terms. Some of the most 
important implications of the Abraham stories 
thus interpreted are, for example : (1) God calls 
each man to a high mission. (2) He will guide 
and care for those who are responsive. (3) To 
those who seek to know him intimately, and to 
do his will, he will reveal himself in fullest 
measure, and for such he has in store his rich- 
est blessings. (4) He that findeth his life (Lot) 
shall lose it, and he that loseth his life (Abraham) 
shall find it. 

The Jacob and Esau stories contain marvel- Significance 
lously exact and realistic portraits of the two aJero/ 01 ' 
races (the Israelites and the Edomites) that they Esau 
respectively represent. Of the two brothers, 
Esau is in many ways the more attractive. 
He suggests the open air and the fields, where ' 
he loved to hunt. He is easy-going, ingenuous, 
and impulsive. His faults are those of not being 
or doing. As long as he had enough to eat and 
was comfortable, he was contented. He is the 
type of the world's drifters. Since Aram was 



240 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

far distant he disregards the wishes of his par- 
ents and marries one of the daughters of the 
land. No ambition stirred him and no devotion 
to Jehovah or to the ideals of his race gave con- 
tent and direction to his life. Thus he remained 
a laggard, and the half -nomadic, robber people 
that he represented became but a stagnant pool, 
compared with the onrushing stream of Israel's 
life. 
Jacob's Jacob's faults are also presented by the early 

' au s prophets with an astonishing fidelity. Rarely 

does a race early in its history have a portrait 
of its weaknesses as well as its strength held up 
thus prominently before its eyes. Jacob is the 
antithesis of Esau. While his brother was 
hunting care-free in the fields, he was at home 
plotting how he could further his own interests. 
When the opportunity offers, he manifests a 
cold, calculating shrewdness. To make good 
the title to the birthright thus acquired he does 
not hesitate to resort to fraud and lying. Then 
he flees, pursued by his own guilty conscience, 
and, tricked by Laban, he serves as a slave four- 
teen years to win the wife whom he loves. At 
last, again a fugitive from the consequences of 
his own questionable dealing, he returns with 
quaking heart to face the brother that he had 
wronged. 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 241 

The character is far from a perfect one, and The elements 
yet the ancient stories suggest its elements of f n Ysrael's 
strength. By nature he was selfish and crafty; character 
and yet he has what Esau fatally lacks : energy, 
persistency, and a commanding ambition. From 
the first his ambition looks beyond himself to 
the future of his descendants. Measured by 
our modern standards, his religious professions 
seem only hypocrisy; but as we analyze his 
character we find that a faith in Jehovah, 
narrow and selfish though it be, was ever his 
guiding star. Out of the tortuous windings 
of his earlier years it ultimately led him to a 
calm old age. Imperfect though his character 
was, like that of the race which he represented, 
the significant fact is that God ever cared for 
him and was able to utilize him as an agent in 
divine revelation. 

Even more obvious and universal are the The noble 
practical lessons illustrated by the Joseph the Joseph 
stories. In the early prophetic narratives, stories 
Abraham is the perfect servant of God, Jacob 
the type of the Israelitish race, but Joseph is 
the ideal man of affairs. Graphically the suc- 
cessive stories picture the man in his making 
and reveal his true character. He is simple, 
affectionate, and yet strongly ambitious. His 
day-dreams make him odious, as in the case 
16 



242 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

of many a boy to-day, to his unimaginative 
brothers. A seemingly hard fate rudely snatches 
him from the enervating influences of his child- 
hood home and places him in the severe school 
of experience, where he is tested and trained. 
It also opens wide the door of opportunity. 
Fidelity to every interest and an unselfish re- 
sponse to every opportunity for service soon 
bring him into the presence of the Pharaoh. 
His judicious counsels, diplomacy, and organiz- 
ing ability win for him the highest honors 
Egypt can confer. With modesty and fidelity 
he endures this supreme test — success. Toward 
his brothers, who had bitterly wronged him, he 
is nobly magnanimous, and to his kinsmen, who 
belong to the shepherd class especially despised 
as boors by the cultured Egyptians, he is loyal 
and considerate. Above all, not by professions, 
but by deeds, he reveals the true source of his 
strength, — a natural faith in the God of his 
race and an unfailing loyalty to him. 
Conclusion In the same way Moses, the exodus, and the 
great men and events of Israel's dramatic his- 
tory, all have a religious importance and signifi- 
cance far surpassing the merely historical. At 
the same time the methods of modern literary 
and historical investigation reveal rather than 
conceal the deeper spiritual truths that they 



Interpretation of its Early Narratives 243 

illustrate. The more light that can be turned 
upon them the more clearly will their essential 
teachings stand forth. Like the Old Testament 
as a whole, they grew up out of real life and 
truly reflect and interpret it, and therefore have 
a living, vital message to life to-day. Any in- 
terpretation that does not ring true to life may 
well be questioned. Finally, the authority of 
these ancient narratives depends not upon the 
historical or scientific accuracy of the individual 
story that is used as an illustration, but upon 
the fact that through the experiences and hearts 
of those who employed them God was seeking 
to make men free by the knowledge of the 
truth. 



XV 

PEACTICAL METHODS OF STUDY- 
ING THE OLD TESTAMENT 



XV 



PRACTICAL METHODS OF STUDYING 
THE OLD TESTAMENT 

The Old Testament may be studied as litera- The various 
ture, as history, as the record of an important Approach 
stage in the evolution of religion, as the revela- 
tion of God to the race, or as a practical aid to 
the individual in living the true life. Each 
angle of approach calls for different methods 
and yields its correspondingly rich results. 
Studied in accordance with the canons of 
modern literary investigation, a literature is 
disclosed of surpassing variety, beauty, and 
fascination. After the principles of historical 
criticism have been vigorously applied, the Old 
Testament is found to contain some of the most 
important and authentic historical data that have 
come down to us from antiquity. To the gen- 
eral student of religion there is no group of 
writings that equals in value those included 
in these ancient Scriptures. As a simple, clear 
revelation of the character and will of the 
Divine Ruler, present and regnant in all life, 
the Old Testament is surpassed by only one 



248 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

other volume, and that is its complement, the 

New. 

The supreme It is, however, as the guide to right thinking, 

Testament an( * De i n g> and acting, that the man of God may 

study fo p er f ec t^ completely equipped for every good 

work, that the Old Testament is and always 

will be studied by the majority of people. In 

so doing they will be realizing its primary and 

supreme purpose. Like true religion, it is not 

an end in itself, but simply an effective force, 

drawing and binding individual men to God and 

to the right, Any method of study that fails to 

attain this definite and practical end does not 

achieve the chief aim of the Old Testament 

writings. 

Necessity of This practical and personal end, however, 

Old Testa- cannot be attained at a leap. It is impossible 

Organic ai% to achieve the best results by taking a truth or 

whole a passage here and there and applying it at once 

to the individual. Both the Old Testament 

and the individual are something organic. Each 

book has a unity and a history that must be 

understood, if a given passage is to be fairly 

interpreted or its truths intelligently applied. 

Individual books are also related to others and 

to their historical background. Also, as has 

already been shown, to appreciate fully the 

vital message of a given writer it is necessary, 



Practical Methods of Studying 249 

not to know his name, but his place in history, 
his point of view, his method of expression, and 
his purpose. The Old Testament and Israel- 
itish history as a whole are the best and most 
essential interpreters of individual books and 
passages. The most serious handicap to the 
ordinary Bible teacher and scholar is the lack 
of this broader, systematic, constructive knowl- 
edge. Much earnest, devoted study, especially 
in the Old Testament fields, is deficient in 
inspiration and results, because it is simply 
groping in an unknown land. It is all impor- 
tant, therefore, to ascend some height and spy 
out the land as a whole, to note the relation of 
different books and events to each other, and to 
view broadly the great stream of divine reve- 
lation which flows out of the prehistoric past on 
through the Old and New Testaments to the 
present. 

In order effectively to apply the truths of the Remarkable 
Old Testament to life, it is also necessary to oftte^Td 
regard the point of view of the individual to be ^jr*™™* tl 
taught. This fundamental principle of all ed- a 9 es and a 

° degrees of 

ucation was fully appreciated and applied by moral 
Israel's great spiritual teachers. The result is 
that the Old Testament contains truths marvel- 
lously adapted to every age and type of mind. 
The importance of the religious culture of the 



250 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

child is emphasized by the comparatively large 
proportion of writings especially fitted to hold 
the attention and arouse the imagination and 
shape the ideals even of the youngest. Nearly 
half of the Old Testament consists simply of nar- 
ratives. Those inimitable stories, which come 
from the childhood of the race, have a perennial 
fascination for the child of to-day. They find 
him on his own mental and moral plane, as 
they did the primitive child, and by natural 
stages lead him on and up to the higher stand- 
ards and broader faith of Israel's later prophets 
and sages, and thus prepare him to understand 
and appreciate the perfected life and teachings 
of Jesus. 
The pro- In the modern use of the Old Testament, the 

the children's faithful application of this fundamental prin- 
Bible ciple also leads to a most practical conclusion ; 

the stories peculiarly adapted to children are 
not the mature, legalistic narratives of the late 
priestly writers, but the early prophetic stories, 
which begin in the second chapter of Genesis. 
If children are taught only these, they will not 
be disconcerted by widely variant versions of 
the same events. Above all, they will be de- 
livered from the inconsistencies and erroneous 
impressions which are often the cause of stum- 
bling to the child. The later process of unlearn- 



Practical Methods of Studying 251 

ing, which is always dangerous, will be avoided. 
If the problems presented by the priestly narra- 
tives be reserved until they can be studied from 
the broader and truer point of view, they will 
be readily solved, and the great positive teach- 
ings of these later didactic stories will be fully 
appreciated. 

The subject-matter, therefore, supremely suit- The prophets 
able for the earliest moral and spritual culture story-tellers 
of the child, is clearly the simple and yet pro- 
found prophetic stories of the Old Testament. 
It is very questionable whether the many ex- 
cellent paraphrases now current are a gain or a 
hindrance. The ancient prophets and the gen- 
erations who have retold them were inimitable 
story-tellers. To attempt to improve upon their 
work is futile. A simple, clear translation is 
all that is required. 1 The interpretation and 
application of their practical teachings can best 
be left to the intuition of the child and the 
direction of the intelligent parent and teacher. 

It is also astonishing how readily even a little Their effec- 
child appreciates the essential lessons, as, for ^/pZtlnUng 
example, those regarding the nature and con- truths 
sequences of sin, presented by the story of the 
Garden of Eden. Under the charm of the at- 

1 A Children's Bible is now being prepared according 
to the plan suggested above. 



252 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

tractive personalities that figure in them, and 
the stirring achievements, so dramatically pre- 
sented that they command breathless attention, 
the early prophetic narrations unconsciously 
and, therefore, all the more effectively, instil 
into the mind of the child the most essential 
truths regarding God and life and duty. At 
the same time, as they study in order the deeds 
of the heroes and makers of Israel's history, 
they are becoming familiar with the real back- 
ground of the earlier revelation recorded in the 
Old Testament. 
The present Therefore scattered throughout Genesis, Ex- 
P these ° stories oc * us > Numbers, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, 
Kings, and the older sections of Ezra, Nehe- 
miah, and I Maccabees, are to be found in rich 
profusion the material for the earliest years of 
Bible study. These should naturally be sup- 
plemented by the stories of the prophets, found 
in such books as Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Haggai. 
Their sequel and culmination are the corre- 
sponding stories in the Gospels and Acts. 
Study of the In connection with the earliest study of the 
sonal teach- achievements of Israel's heroes and spiritual 
l Old r'efta- lexers, many of their greatest teachings would 
ment be appropriated and applied, but when the years 

of early adolescence are reached, the prophets 
in their sermons, the priests in their laws, the 



Practical Methods of Studying 253 

sages in their proverbs, and the psalmists in 
their psalms, each have certain personal mes- 
sages, superbly adapted to the critical, for- 
mative years, when childhood begins to unfold 
into maturity. To make this material available, 
judicious selection and interpretation are re- 
quired. The organism of each book and of the 
child must both be carefully regarded to make 
the adjustment perfect. Naturally this most 
vital line of study would be the introduction 
to a corresponding study of the direct, personal 
teachings of Jesus and the apostles. 

This intensely practical work could profitably Study of the 
be preceded or followed by a study of the origin growth of the 
and growth of the different books and groups ° l f nt Testa ' 
of Old Testament writings and the gradual 
stages whereby these Scriptures attained their 
present form and authority. The guides in 
this investigation should not be the Jewish 
rabbis or even the traditions of the Church 
Fathers. We have been misled too long by 
the pious guesses of the mediaeval saints; but 
rather the testimony of the Bible itself and the 
evidence of contemporary writings- should be the 
guides. The spirit should also be frank and 
constructive. The results cannot fail to be 
practically helpful in a great variety of ways. 
Thus on the basis of facts, in the light of his- 



254 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

tory, and by the use of those methods of re- 
search which alone command respect and 
acceptance in other kindred lines of inves- 
tigation, the questions which come to every 
thoughtful boy and girl will be fairly and 
truly answered. In this way those experi- 
ences which are inevitable in this critical age 
will deepen and broaden rather than destroy the 
foundations of individual faith. 
Thehistori- With this general introduction, many stu- 
C app?oac°h dents and classes will find it profitable to ap- 
proach the Old and New Testaments from the 
distinctively historical point of view. Begin- 
ning with the unfolding of the civilization and 
religion of ancient Babylonia, they will study 
in conjunction the history, the strong personali- 
ties, the literature, and the thought of each suc- 
cessive period. The advantages of this method 
of study are many. Each book will be read 
and its messages interpreted in the light of the 
conditions and forces that constitute its true 
background. The different characters will live 
again, and the significance of their work and 
words will be fully appreciated as they are 
viewed in the clear perspective of history. 
Its practical Above all, such a synthetic study of the un- 
TeTultT folding of the supreme truths of revelation lays 
a foundation for the individual faith as broad as 



Practical Methods of Studying 255 

human experience. This is to attain one of the 
chief aims of all study, which is to put the in- 
dividual into practical possession of all that is 
vital and best in the experiences and achieve- 
ments of the past, that, thus equipped, he may- 
go forth to fight the battle of life, valiantly and 
successfully. 

This last course of study would call for Its natural 
several years, and, more than that, for enthu- sequ l 
siasm, devotion, and real work. It would also 
take the student in time through the New 
Testament period, with its literature and com- 
manding personalities and events, and perhaps 
beyond to the great epochs of Church history. 
Many would not stop until they had studied the 
latest chapter in Church history, the noble mis- 
sionary activity and achievement of the past and 
present century. 

When the Bible had thus been studied, the Advanced 
scholars in our schools would not be ready to c s °udy* 
graduate, but rather to enter upon that still 
deeper and more fundamental study which 
would mean an ultimate conquest of the broad 
field that it represents. Then it might be safe 
and profitable to adopt the topical method and 
study some one of the vital themes that are 
treated from many different points of view in 
the various parts of the Bible. 



256 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Study of It will, however, probably be found easier 

ment history an( ^ more natural next to take up in succeed- 
ing years the detailed study of the nine or ten 
great groups of writings which are found in 
the Bible. The natural and easiest method of 
approach to those of the Old Testament would 
be through a careful, constructive study of the 
history of the Israelitish race, perhaps begin- 
ning with the definite historical period of Saul 
and Samuel and concluding with the advent of 
Rome. Far better than any modern history 
of Israel is that marvellous history written by 
its own historians, which begins with the book 
of Samuel and ends with I Maccabees. Ana- 
lyzed and arranged in their chronological order, 
these narratives tell the story with rare fascina- 
tion and suggestiveness. 1 
Study of the On the basis of this detailed study of the his- 
^and earlier torical background, the work and teachings of 
the prophets could next be traced in their true 
and chronological order. No Old Testament 
field is more neglected and none is more in- 
tensely interesting, when once the student un- 
derstands the problems and aims of each great 
prophet. None has a more practical message 

1 Volume II of the " Student's Old Testament" con- 
tains the narratives from Samuel through I Maccabes, 
thus arranged. 



narratives 



Practical Methods of Studying 257 

for to-day, provided its supreme truths are 
interpreted into modern terms and conditions. 
After becoming intimately acquainted with the 
Hebrew prophets, it would be possible to go 
back and study with a new understanding and 
appreciation the early narratives which gather 
about the beginnings of Hebrew history. Then 
the intricate problems of the first eight books of 
the Bible would vanish in the light of a fuller 
knowledge. Above all, that which is essential 
and permanent would stand out in clear relief. 

From the earliest fruits of prophetic activity study of the 
it would then be profitable to turn to the later, i^ature 
represented by Lamentations and the Psalter. 
Here the best results require a classification of 
the different psalms according to their themes, 
so that their teachings can be studied systemati- 
cally and as a whole. In this field of study the 
student comes very close to the heart of the Old 
Testament and the heart of the God who speaks 
through it. 

Less spiritual and yet intensely interesting study of 
and practical is the great department of the Old u^tmT 
Testament known as the wisdom literature. He 
that walheth with the wise shall be wise (Prov. 
xiii. 20) is as true to-day as when first uttered. 
This literature is a great mine of truth, almost 
entirely neglected by the Christian world. Sys- 

17 



258 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

tematic classification is the first requisite for the 
profitable study of the Proverbs and the later 
Wisdom of Ben Sira. From these the student 
may pass on to the fuller treatment of the omni- 
present human problem, so sublimely presented 
in the book of Job, and to the many fundamental 
questions raised by Ecclesiastes and the Wisdom 
of Solomon. 
Study of the Last of all a year might well be spent in the 
ment laws study of the unfolding and concrete application 
ltu " and illustration of Israel's ethical and religious 
principles in the legal codes and institutions of 
the Old Testament. Many of these have found 
a higher expression, some are but symbolic, but 
others still have permanent authority and value. 
Studied as a whole and on the basis of a logical 
classification, this little understood field would 
also cease to be a jungle, and instead would 
yield its own practical spiritual fruits. 



tions 



XVI 

KELIGIOUS EDUCATION — THE 

FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM 

OF TO-DAY 



XVI 

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION — THE 

FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEM 

OF TO-DAY 

This very brief and fragmentary outline of Tkepracti- 
methods and possibilities of Old Testament ^n If these 
study is not an impossible dream. In col- P 0SSlhlllties 
leges and in a few Bible schools it is already 
being tried with the gratifying results that 
might be anticipated. To put it at once into 
force in most of our Sunday-schools would be 
absolutely impracticable. It is presented simply 
as a suggestion of a definite and practical goal 
toward which to work. With careful adjust- 
ment, these courses, adapted to different ages, 
could be arranged so that at least the inter- 
mediate grades in the Sunday-school would be 
studying in the same field at the same time. 
This plan provides for no graduation from the 
school of the Bible. It assumes that the Chris- 
tian world is at last awakening to the real sig- 
nificance of religious education and to a recogni- 
tion of the fact that the ultimate solution of our 



262 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

gravest national and social problems is to be 
found only in the inculcation of the true ethical 
ideals in the mind of the individual. It also 
assumes the fundamental principle that no 
worthy ends can be attained without real work, 
enthusiastic devotion, systematic methods, and 
above all a definite and worthy goal. It rests 
on the belief that the sense of gradual conquest 
and the attainment of practical results will alone 
inspire permanent devotion and evoke faithful 
work, and in the end prepare the individual 
scholar for the intelligent and loyal service of 
God. 
The over- Frank confessions are good for a cause as well 

™ponsibiity~ as for the soul. We must admit that most of 
^av-tchool's our Sunday-schools, with their vast resources in 
opportunity, in financial support, and in the de- 
votion of the teachers and officers, do not per- 
manently hold their scholars, and in the great 
majority of cases do not give them a thorough 
or systematic knowledge, even of the most vital 
teachings of the Bible. The ignorance of its 
literature and history on the part of even the 
more intelligent students who enter college, is 
almost past belief, as many of us can testify 
from personal observation. The limitations in 
time and equipment of the Sunday-schools are 
undoubtedly great in comparison with those of 



Religious Education 263 

the secular schools; and yet the responsibility 
now thrown upon the Bible schools is even 
greater than upon the latter. Parents have 
ceased to instruct their children in spelling 
and the multiplication-table because they have 
found that the teachers can do this better. 
Without justification, but by analogy and be- 
cause they are themselves often unacquainted 
with the Bible, or uncertain regarding its in- 
terpretation, they are more and more leaving the 
religious education of their sons and daughters 
to the Church and the Sunday-school. 

It is safe to say, and this without reservation, The tran- 
that the most fundamental problem in England importance 
and America to-day is the problem of religious ^dwrtion 
education, because this lies at the roots of all 
else — political, social, and theological. When 
the Christian world awakens to its profound 
significance, and when its ideals and methods 
are raised, even to a level with those of the 
public scho. Is, the other grave problems will 
be near their solution. If the individual is 
thoroughly taught during the impressionable 
years of childhood and youth, the fundamental 
principles of ethics and religion, society and 
the state will have no difficulty in meeting their 
problems ; but if not, these will perforce continue 
to remain unsolved. 



264 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Important It is a time for all earnest men of every de- 
^fstament nomination or creed to unite in meeting this 
be taught in nee( j. j n the Old Testament, Jew and Chris- 

the public 

schools tian, Catholic and Protestant, stand on com- 
mon ground. The modern inductive historical 
methods of study have prepared the way for 
union; for they aim to support no denomina- 
tional interpretation, but simply to attain the 
truth. The last reasons, therefore, why the lit- 
erature, history, geography, and ethical teach- 
ings of the Old Testament should not be taught 
in our public schools are rapidly disappearing, 
and the hundreds of reasons why any system of 
secular education is incomplete without it are 
coming to the front. With this fundamental 
basis of knowledge and instruction, the work 
of the Sunday-schools could also at once be 
placed on a far more effective plane. It is a 
consummation for which every intelligent citizen 
should earnestly work. 
The task of The achievement of the last century was to 
the present complete the work of the Protestant Reforma- 
century ^ Qn an( j re discover the Bible. The task of the 
present century is to instil its essential teach- 
ings, thus revealed, into the mind of the indi- 
vidual, so that they will become controlling 
factors in human life. Here lies the great re- 
sponsibility and opportunity of the Christian 



Religious Education 265 

Church. If it is to renew its hold on modern 
men, it will be through the mind as well as the 
heart, and its most efficient method will be — 
as it always has in reality been — religious 
education. Horace Bushnell proclaimed the 
watchword of the Church triumphant : " Chris- 
tian culture." 

His, however, was no new discovery. The The exam- 
Hebrew prophets, priests, and sages were not pri- prophets and 
marily preachers, but teachers. The prophetic Jesus 
messages which fell on deaf ears, instilled into 
the minds of a few humble disciples, in time 
won acceptance from the nation. Jesus him- 
self was not so much the preacher as the Great 
Teacher. His earliest public preaching was 
but the net cast to catch the few faithful 
disciples. When these had been secured, he 
turned his back upon a popular preaching min- 
istry, and devoted the best part of his brief 
public work to instructing a little group of 
disciples. History completely vindicates the 
wisdom of his method. Only by following 
closely on his footsteps can the Church hope to 
realize its true mission, especially in this age, 
when the heart and will must be reached through 
the mind. In this respect, it must also be con- 
fessed that the Catholic are far in advance of 
the Protestant churches and Sunday-schools, 



266 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

where the preaching still overshadows the 
teaching. 
The call for To inspire and direct thorough religious in- 
ministry 9 struction, carefully trained leaders are needed. 
The demand to-day is for a teaching as well as 
a preaching ministry, with an apostolic sense 
of a mission and a message. Men with natural 
gifts and the most thorough preparation are 
wanted to raise the standards and to organize 
and transform, as they alone can, by personal 
contact, the teaching corps of our Sunday- 
schools into effective forces. Such men and 
women certainly can be found. It is a con- 
viction, based on a wide experience, that many 
of the ablest students in our colleges and uni- 
versities, who for many valid reasons do not 
feel the call to a preaching mission, would 
gladly and enthusiastically devote themselves 
to the work of religious instruction, could they 
be sure of a field, when their preparation was 
complete. Our universities and seminaries al- 
ready have the facilities and could readily as- 
sume this important responsibility. As soon 
as our large city churches and the federated 
churches in our smaller towns, demand a teach- 
ing pastor as the permanent director of their 
Sunday-schools, and of the religious educational 
work under their charge, they will enter upon a 



Religious Education 267 

new career of permanent conquest. The needs 
are undoubtedly great, the volunteers are at 
hand, thorough preparation can be assured ; but 
the call must come from the Church, united 
and awake to its supreme opportunity and re- 
sponsibility. 

It must also be confessed that our religious The anti- 
educational systems — if such they may be Methods of 
called — are still in the experimental stage. ou l s 7 unda ^ 

r ° schools 

They are far inferior in every respect, except 
in the self-sacrificing devotion of the teachers 
and officers, to those of the secular schools. 
What is most vital to our national and indi- 
vidual life is most neglected. Instead of the 
latest and best pedagogical methods, the most 
antiquated largely prevail. Saddest of all, the 
Bible which is being taught in the majority of 
our schools is the Bible of later Judaism and 
the Middle Ages, not the Book of Books which 
stands forth in the light of God's latest revela- 
tion, as a message of beauty and life to the 
present age. It is not strange that there is a 
growing distrust of the Sunday-school among 
many intelligent people, and an appalling apathy 
or distaste for Bible study in the mind of the 
rising generation. 

If we shut our eyes to these facts, they will 
remain ; but if we frankly face them, a decade 



268 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

The crying of intelligent and devoted work will effect a 
"proved % *" g rea ^ transformation. The first step is obvi- 
stud** °^ ous ty along the line of improved courses and 
methods of study. Many different courses are 
at present in the field. All have their merits, 
and to those who have developed them highest 
praise and credit is due. Some have been pre- 
pared to meet immediate and practical needs, 
but ignore the larger unities and the historical 
background, and in general neglect the results 
of modern educational and biblical knowledge. 
Some have been worked out in the study and 
have a strong academic flavor, but do not meet 
the needs of the average scholar or teacher. 
Others are models of pedagogical perfection, 
but lack content. Progressive Sunday-schools 
are trying one system after another, and mean- 
time the note of discontent is rapidly rising. 
The crisis is too serious to admit of personal 
rivalries or prejudices. 
How to meet The moral of the situation is simple: that 
which will fully meet the needs of the present 
must be a combination of all that is good in 
existing courses, and embody what is best in the 
scholarship and methods of to-day. Like the 
most effective systems in the past, it must be 
wrought out in the laboratory of practical ex- 
perience. It must be planned from the point 



Religious Education 269 

of view of actual needs and conditions. It 
must also have a worthy and definite goal and 
a high ideal. It should emphasize the impor- 
tance of fundamental religious instruction, as 
well as preaching. All that is practical and per- 
manent in modern educational methods should 
be utilized. It should preserve the existing 
superb Sunday-school organization, and, as far 
as possible, the unity of the splendid system 
now under the direction of the International 
Committee. Finally, it should incorporate the 
positive and illuminating results of modern con- 
structive biblical research. The task cannot 
be accomplished in a moment, nor by one man 
nor a small group of men. It is certainly im- 
portant enough to command the best experi- 
ence, the ripest scholarship, and the most 
unselfish devotion. 

When this task has been thoroughly per- The advent 
formed, and the ablest of our educated men f n a t h e %™ a 
and women have been enlisted in our Bible '°. r # °/ the ^. 

kingdom of 

schools, the cause of religious education will God 
command the respect of the world, not merely 
because of the fundamental need which it aims 
to meet, but also because it is effectually meeting 
it. The Christian Church will also find itself 
in sympathy and touch with that which is best 
and most significant in modern life and thought. 



270 Origin and Value of the Old Testament 

Religious teachers and scientific investigators 
will work shoulder to shoulder in a common 
study and interpretation of God's many-sided 
revelation. Pastors will feel the solid founda- 
tions of historical truth beneath their feet. 
Leaving behind the din and distractions of 
the transitional period, the disciples of the 
Great Teacher will go forth with fresh zeal 
to make the eternal truths of the Bible reg- 
nant in the lives of men, and the kingdom of 
God a reality in human history. 



THE STUDENT'S 
OLD TESTAMENT 

Logically and chronologically arranged and translated 
by Professor CHARLES FOSTER KENT, of Yale 
University. 6 volumes, 8vo. Each $2.75 net. 
(Postage 15 cents.) 

This series will contain the complete Old Testament logically 
and chronologically arranged, together with a clear, vivid, and 
dignified translation, which will represent not merely the words, but 
also the ideas, the spirit, and the beauty of the original. The work 
embodies the positive conclusions of many hundreds of earnest, 
critical scholars. It is an introduction, a commentary, and a his- 
tory all in one. 

VOLUMES NOW READY 

Narratives of the Beginnings of Hebrew History 

Introduction. The Beginnings of Human History. Tradi- 
tional Ancestors of the Hebrews. Deliverance of the Hebrews 
from Egypt. Life of the Hebrews in the Wilderness and East 
of the Jordan. Conquest and Settlement of Canaan. 

IsraePs Historical and Biographical Narratives 

Introduction. The Establishment and Rule of the United 
Monarchy. History of Northern Israel. History of Judah. 
Reestablishment of the Jewish Community in Palestine. The 
Maccabean Struggle. Life of the Jews of the Dispersion. 

VOLUMES IN PREPARATION 
Prophetic Sermons, Epistles, and Apocalypses 
Laws and Traditional Precedents 
Songs, Psalms, and Prayers 
Proverbs and Didactic Poems 

Specimen pages and full descriptive circular 0/ this set 
will be sent on application 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

153-157 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



THE 

HISTORICAL SERIES 

FOR 

BIBLE STUDENTS 

Edited by CHARLES FOSTER KENT, Ph.D., 
Woolsey Professor of Biblical Literature in Yale Uni- 
versity, and FRANK KNIGHT SANDERS, Ph.D., 
D.D., sometime Professor of Biblical History and 
Archaeology in Yale University. 10 volumes, i2mo. 
Each $1.25 net. 

This series presents clearly, attractively, and in form in- 
telligible to all, the important results of research and discovery 
which extend and illuminate the field of biblical and cognate his- 
tory. It represents the fruitage of the earnest, indefatigable labors 
of the biblical scholars of the past quarter century. The treatment 
is concise, yet neglects no important fact; scholarly, but popular and 
non-technical. It emphasizes what is vital, and at the same time 
provides abundant and detailed references to the ablest discussions 
of technical questions. References to biblical and monumental 
literature are also given at each point that the reader may be able 
to verify every statement and arrive at independent conclusions. 
The spirit is non-dogmatic and progressive, yet thoroughly con- 
structive; fearless of new truth, yet reverent. In general, the series 
aims to make use of all that is fresh and strong in the achievements 
of scholarship, and to reenforce and restate for the present day the 
permanent and personal message of the Bible. 

VOLUMES NOW READY 

History of the Hebrew People: The United Kingdom. By Charles 
Foster Kent, Ph.D., Woolsey Professor of Biblical Literature 
in Yale University. 

History of the Hebrew People: The Divided Kingdom. By Pro- 
fessor Charles Foster Kent, Ph.D. 



VOLUMES NOW READY-Continued 



History of the Jewish People during the Babylonian, Persian and 
Greek Periods. By Professor Charles Foster Kent, Ph.D. 

History of the Jewish People during the Maccabean and Roman 
Periods. By James Stevenson Riggs, D.D., Professor of 
Biblical Criticism in Auburn Theological Seminary. 

History of the Babylonians and Assyrians. By George S. Good- 
speed, Ph.D., late Professor of Ancient History and Compara- 
tive Religion in the University of Chicago. 

The Life of Jesus of Nazareth. By Rush Rhees, D.D., President 
of the University of Rochester; late Professor of New Tes- 
tament Interpretation in the Newton Theological Institution. 

History of Christianity in the Apostolic Age. By George T. 
Purves, Ph.D., D.D., Pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian 
Church, New York; late Professor of New Testament Liter- 
ature and Exegesis in Princeton Theological Seminary. 

VOLUMES IN PREPARATION 

History of the Egyptians. By James Henry Breasted, Ph.D., 
Professor of Egyptology and Oriental History in the Univer- 
sity of Chicago. 

Outlines of Biblical History and Literature from the Earliest 
Times to the Captivity. By Frank Knight Sanders, 
Ph.D., D.D. 

Outlines of Biblical History and Literature from the Exile to 
200 A. D. By Frank Knight Sanders, Ph.D., D.D. 

Specimen pages and full descriptive circular of this set 
will be sent free on application 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

153-157 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



THE MESSAGES OF 
THE BIBLE 

Edited by FRANK KNIGHT SANDERS, Ph.D., 
sometime Professor of Biblical History and Archaeology 
in Yale University, and CHARLES FOSTER KENT, 
Ph.D.,Woolsey Professor of Biblical Literature in Yale 
University. 12 volumes, i2mo. Each $1.25 net. 

A series of hand books in which the essential meaning of the various 
Books of the Bible is presented to the English reader in plain language, in 
their chronological and historical setting, and with such other notes as may 
be necessary to elucidate obscure names and phrases, or to illustrate some 
idiom or metaphor of the original. The purpose of the series is to enable 
any reader of the Bible to understand its meaning as a reverent scholar of 
to-day does, and in particular to receive the exact impression which the words 
as originally heard or read must have made upon those for whom they were 
delivered. It is, in short, a well-conceived, thoroughly equipped, and 
carefully organized attempt to state the essence of the religious experience 
and Divine revelation which form the contents of the Bible. 

VOLUMES NOW READY 

Messages of the Earlier Prophets. By Professors Sanders and Kent, of 

Yale University. 
Messages of the Later Prophets. By Professors Sanders and Kent. 
Messages of Israel's Lawgivers. By Professor Charles F. Kent, Ph.D. 
Messages of the Prophetical and Priestly Historians. By Professor John E. 

McFadyen, M.A., of Knox College, Toronto. 
The Messages of the Psalmists. By Professor John E. McFadyen, M.A., of 

Knox College, Toronto. 
The Messages of the Apocalyptic Writers. By Professor Frank C. Porter, 

Ph.D., D.D., of Yale University. 
The Messages of Jesus According to the Synoptists. By Professor Thomas 

C. Hall, of Union Theological Seminary. 
The Messages of Paul. By Professor George B. Stevens, D.D., Ph.D., of 

Yale University. 
The Messages of the Apostles. By Professor George B. Stevens, D.D., 

Ph.D., of Yale University. 

VOLUMES IN PREPARATION 

The Messages of the Sages. By Professor Frank K. Sanders, Ph.D. 

The Messages of the Poets. By Professor Nathaniel Schmidt, Ph.D., of 

Cornell University. 
The Messages of Jesus According to John. By Professor James S. Riggs, 

D.D., of Auburn Theological Seminary. 

Specimen pages and full descriptive circular of this set 
will be sent free on application 

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 

153-157 FIFTH AVENUE, NEW YORK 



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